Box Score ASTON, Pa. – Neumann forward Aaron Keaney picked up his first collegiate hat trick and finished the night with a game-high four points as No. 15 Neumann used a strong first period and a three-goal surge at the end of the third to put away No. 11/13 Manhattanville, 5-1, in an ECAC West Conference men's hockey matchup on Friday night at Ice Works.
 
In a game that featured multiple ebbs and flows of momentum, Neumann did the most with their chances offensively to earn the win. The Knights dominated play in the opening frame to open up a two-goal lead, and then countered some aggressive Valiant play with three goals in 3:47 late in the game to secure the win.
 
In addition to Keaney's career night , Scott Farrell and Chris Bournazos also scored for Neumann (11-4-2, 3-4-0 ECAC West), while senior Brendan Turner (Tisdale, Sask./Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL)) had the lone goal of the evening for Manhattanville (11-5-1, 4-2-1 ECAC West).
 
The first period was not a pretty one for Manhattanville, as the puck spent most of the time in the Valiant defensive zone and the Knights racked up a 16-2 edge in shots.
 
The pressure paid off first 4:26 into the period, when Keaney tipped home a shot from the point by Andrew Love to make it 1-0 Knights. About 10 minutes later, the home team took advantage of their first man-up chance to double their lead, when Farrell beat sophomore Brian Fleming (Saint John, N.B./Northern Cyclones (AJHL)) from the point to give Neumann a two-goal edge headed into the first intermission.
 
But the Valiants came out with a much more aggressive mentality in the middle stanza, posting a 15-7 edge in shots and taking the game to the Knights in large spurts.
 
Manhattanville's offensive momentum did not garner any results, however, until the Valiants took advantage of a five-on-three opportunity to get on the board with 5:40 to go in the frame. After some nice passing in the high slot, sophomore Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J./Springfield Pics (EJHL)) took a feed from junior Luc Van Natter (Fort Erie, Ont./Aurora Tigers (OPJHL)) at the side of the net and fed a quick pass across the crease for Turner, who one-timed it home for his sixth tally of the year.
 
The visitors continued their strong play into the third period, generating multiple good offensive chances only to be turned aside by Neumann netminder Braely Torris. The Knights then took advantage of a giveaway in the defensive zone to double their lead again, as Bournazos scored with 4:48 to go to make it 3-1.
 
The flurry continued less than a minute later when Keaney scored his second of the night on a breakaway at 15:51 of the period, and he completed his hat trick with 1:01 left on the clock.
 
Despite being badly outshot in the first period, Manhattanville posted shot advantages in both of the final two frames to make the final shot totals respectable at 33-29 Knights. Torris was a big factor in the Knights' win with 28 saves, while Fleming made 28 saves as well for the Valiants.
 
Manhattanville will continue ECAC West Conference play with two games next weekend, beginning with a Friday night matchup at Nazareth starting at 7 p.m.