RYE, N.Y. – Sophomore
Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) scored two goals, including the game-winner 6:04 into the third period, as the Manhattanville College men's hockey team knocked off Hobart College, ranked fourth in Division III by USCHO.com and fifth by D3hockey.com, in ECAC West Conference action on Friday night at Playland Ice Casino.
The sophomore line of Lippa,
Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and
Eric Berglund (Sollentuna, Sweden/Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL)) came up huge for Manhattanville (2-3-0, 1-2-0 ECAC West) on the night, combining for three of the team's five goals. In addition to Lippa's two goals and an assist, Berglund scored once and added an assist while Anderson picked up a pair of helpers as well.
Sophomore
Marco Ferraro (Toronto, Ont./St. Michael's Buzzers (OJHL)) also continued his red-hot start to the season with another two points on a goal and an assist, while senior assistant captain
Adam Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) scored and classmate
Tanner Hicks (Calgary, Alta./Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) had two assists as well for the Valiants.
With just over a minute remaining, Ferraro got the home team on the board first by potting his fourth goal of the year, going top shelf while the teams skated four-on-four to give the Valiants the lead. Manhattanville doubled up Hobart, 8-4, in shots over the first 20 minutes of play to go into the first intermission with a lead.
The second period featured two goals for each side, as a pair of Valiant scores were answered by Hobart (3-1-1, 2-1-0 ECAC West) to keep the Manhattanville advantage at one entering the third period.
Berglund put home the rebound of a Ferraro shot to give the home team a 2-0 lead 6:44 into the period; however, the Statesmen answered 1:14 later on Nick Bingaman's third goal of the season. Lippa put home his third of the year with 2:55 left, as he came off the far boards and beat Hobart netminder Frank Oplinger to again give the Valiants a two-goal edge. But again the visitors had an answer, as a Bo Webster tally made it a 3-2 game after 40 minutes.
Hobart evened the score at the 5:08 mark of the third period on Andrew Silard's first goal of the season, but Lippa responded less than a minute later with his second of the game to put Manhattanville ahead for good.
The Valiants killed off a pair of power plays down the stretch and also got several huge saves from sophomore netminder
Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)), including a tremendous diving stop to rob Ben Greiner on a two-on-one chance with seven minutes left in the contest.
Manhattanville iced the game in the final minute with the Hobart net empty, as Platt took an outlet pass from Anderson and fired the puck easily into the net for his second goal of the season.
Feaver picked up a well-deserved first victory of the season, making 23 saves on 26 shots as the Valiants held a slight 27-26 edge in attempts on goal. The Manhattanville penalty kill also came up big, holding Hobart scoreless on six opportunities.
Manhattanville will look to keep the momentum going tomorrow night, as the Valiants host Elmira College for a 7 p.m. faceoff at Playland.
