Box Score ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Senior co-captain Luc Van Natter (Fort Erie, Ont./Aurora Tigers (OPJHL)) scored on a penalty shot 31 seconds into overtime as the Manhattanville men's hockey team overcame a pair of one-goal deficits to earn a crucial 3-2 (OT) victory over Nazareth in ECAC West Conference action on Friday night at Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex.
 
On the very first shift of extra time, Van Natter got free and raced in on the net of Nazareth netminder Ed Zdolshek when Geoff Bagnall was whistled for throwing his stick in an attempt to stop the goal. The referees awarded a penalty shot to the Valiant senior, and he beat Zdolshek for his team-leading 11th goal of the year.
 
The win was a big one for Manhattanville (11-8-1, 4-5-1 ECAC West) in the race for the postseason, as the win and Neumann's loss to Utica put the Valiants three points ahead of the Knights in fourth place in the conference standings with five games to go. Nazareth (6-14-1, 2-8-1 ECAC West) also missed a chance to move up the standings and remains one point behind Neumann in sixth position.
 
Senior Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J./Springfield Pics (EJHL)) and junior Rich Meyer (Port Monmouth, N.J./Boston Bulldogs (AtlJHL)) also scored for the visitors in the win, while senior Alex Scola (Exeter, N.H./Woodstock Slammers (MJHL)) turned aside 28 shots between the pipes to pick up his eighth victory of the season.
 
Friday's game was one of opportunity for Manhattanville, as the Valiants scored all three goals thanks to Nazareth penalties. After Ben Blasko scored on the first shift of the game to put Nazareth ahead, the Valiants responded at the very end of their first man-up chance, as Meyer scored his first goal of the year from junior assistant captain Anton Racklin (Gothenburg, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)) at 3:10 of the opening frame.
 
There was only one goal scored in the second period and it came from Mark Zavorin on the power play to give the Golden Flyers a 2-1 lead late in the second. As a result, the Valiants trailed headed into the third period, a situation in which the team had found itself on seven previous occasions this year without earning a win.
 
But with 4:09 remaining in regulation, Rivera took an outlet pass from Scola and entered the zone before firing the puck past Zdolshek. Rivera's seventh goal of the year – and Scola's first career point – evened the score and sent the game into overtime, despite the Valiants having to kill off a penalty in the waning minutes.
 
Nazareth finished the game with a slight 30-27 edge in shots. The Valiants went 2 for 6 on the man advantage on Friday, while Nazareth scored once on five man-up chances.
 
Manhattanville and Nazareth will complete their season series tomorrow afternoon, as the Valiants and Golden Flyers return to Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex for a 4 p.m. faceoff.