PURCHASE, N.Y. – Coming off the most lopsided postseason victory in program history, the fourth-seeded Manhattanville men's hockey team will take to the road on Saturday as the Valiants travel to top-seeded and national #7/2 Utica for a 7 p.m. matchup in the ECAC West Conference Tournament semifinals.
 
Manhattanville (14-9-3, 6-6-3 ECAC West) advanced to the semifinal round with a dominating 9-1 victory over fifth-seeded Elmira on Wednesday night at Terry Conners Rink. The Valiants will face off with top-seeded Utica (20-4-1, 11-3-1 ECAC West) in one semifinal on Saturday, while second-seeded Hobart (19-4-2, 11-3-1 ECAC West) will host third-seeded Neumann (17-6-3, 8-6-1 ECAC West), 4-1 winners over Nazareth in yesterday's other first-round game, in the second semifinal.
 
Utica has blocked off a limited amount tickets at the Utica Memorial Auditorium for Manhattanville fans, with tickets going for $8 for adults and $4 for students (with ID) and children under the age of 18. Fans can purchase tickets online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/259 before the game, while tickets will also be sold (if available) at the box office on the night of the game.

Fans that can't get to Utica have a variety of options available to catch all the action. WMVL 88.1 FM and WMVLRadio.com will have live audio coverage of the game beginning at approximately 6:45 p.m., while Utica is also providing both pay-per-view video of the game via FastHockey.com as well as live stats that are available by clicking here. 
 
The Valiants had a very easy time in its first game of the postseason on Wednesday night, coasting to a 9-1 win over Elmira. The home team outshot the visitors by a 55-16 margin led by senior Brendan Turner (Tisdale, Sask./Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL)), who took a game-high six shots and scored a career-high three goals with an assist for four points. Sophomore Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J./Springfield Pics (EJHL)) had three points with a goal and two assists, while senior captains Scott Hudson (St. Albert, Alta./Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)) and Ron Smith (North Delta, B.C./Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL)) had a goal and an assist each. In goal, sophomore Alex Scola (Exeter, N.H./Woodstock Slammers (MJHL)) made 15 saves on 16 shots to pick up his fifth win of the year.
 
The win improved Manhattanville to 10-9-0 all-time in ECAC West Tournament play and also snapped a brief two-game losing streak in the postseason. The Pioneers and Valiants have met three in the playoffs with the Valiants winning two of those meetings, including a 3-1 win in the title game on March 6, 2005 that delivered Manhattanville its first ECAC West Tournament championship. Utica has never won an ECAC West title in its 12 years of existence and is 2-9-0 all-time in tournament play, and the Pioneers enter this year having lost its last seven ECAC West Tournament games since a 5-3 win over Manhattanville on March 3, 2006.
 
Utica and Manhattanville have met three times this year with the Pioneers posting a 2-0-1 mark, but the games have gotten progressively closer at the series went on. Utica earned a 4-1 win in the series opener at the Aud on January 26, using a 50-25 edge in shots to take down the visiting Valiants. Last weekend at Terry Conners Rink, Utica eked out a 3-2 win on Friday night before the Valiants battled them to a 4-4 (OT) tie thanks to an extra-attacker goal from junior Luc Van Natter (Fort Erie, Ont./Aurora Tigers (OPJHL)).
 
As the Valiants showcased on Wednesday, the team possesses a very potent offensive attack, averaging 3.92 goals per game to rank 11th in Division III. Hudson is the team's scoring leader with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points on the year, ranking the All-Conference forward 33rd in Div. III in points. Rivera ranks second on the team with 27 points on nine goals and a team-leading 18 assists followed by Hudson's All-Conference linemates, freshman Matt Coleman (Brentwood, N.Y./Springfield Pics (EJHL)) and Van Natter, with 26 and 24 points, respectively.
 
Manhattanville has one All-Conference selection on the defensive end, as sophomore Anton Racklin (Gothenburg, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)) ranks third in the conference and 12th nationally among blueliners with 19 points on five goals and 14 assists. Junior Adam Young (Edmonton, Alta./Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL)) also chips in offensively with five goals and six assists.
 
Scola has taken over the starting role in goal for Manhattanville late in the year, posting a 1.91 goals against average and .936 save percentage over the last five games (2-1-1). On the year, the sophomore is 5-2-1 with a 2.32 goals against average and a .922 save percentage that would rank him 27th and 23rd, respectively, if he had played enough minutes to be eligible.
 
One area where Manhattanville continues to excel is on the penalty kill, as the Valiants enter the weekend fourth in Division III with an 88.1 percent success rate in man-down situations. The Valiant power play has also shown signs of progress in recent weeks, but still ranks 51st in the country at 17.5 percent.
 
Utica boasts the fourth-highest scoring offense in Division III this year, averaging 4.64 goals per contest, and also ranks fourth in scoring margin thanks to an 11th-ranked defense that allows 2.20 goals per game.
 
The Pioneers are led by reigning ECAC West Player of the Year Louie Educate, who ranks 10th in Division III in points with 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points in 25 games. Other potent scorers for the Pioneers include All-Conference second-team selections Jon Gaffney, who ranks third in the conference with 13 goals, and Trever Hertz (12-12-24) as well as classmate Ridge Garbutt (9-17-26).
 
Utica has two more All-Conference performers on the blue line. Donny Olivieri was named to the second team and All-Rookie team after finishing the year second among both ECAC West blueliners and rookies in scoring (5-17-22), while Mike Slowikowski was named an honorable mention following a 15-point regular season.
 
Junior Nick Therrien has been the primary starter in between the pipes all year long for Utica, and enters the weekend 17th in Division III in goals against average (2.15) and 18th in save percentage (.924) to go with his Division III-best 18 wins.
 
The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the ECAC West Tournament championship game, which will be played on Saturday, March 2 at the home of the highest remaining seed.