RYE, N.Y. – Sophomore Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and junior Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) both had a goal and an assist as the Manhattanville College men's hockey team used a big second period to upend Nazareth College by a 4-3 score in an important ECAC West Conference contest on Friday night at Playland Ice Casino.
 
The win gave Manhattanville (10-8-1, 6-2-0 ECAC West) sole possession of second place in the conference standings with six games left on the regular-season slate, two points back of Utica College and two points ahead of Nazareth (6-11-2, 5-3-0 ECAC West) and Hobart College.
 
Gaul and Anderson led the way for Manhattanville with two-point nights, bookending the Valiant scoring with the first and fourth goals of the evening. Sophomores Eric Berglund (Sollentuna, Sweden/Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL)) and Bryan Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) also scored for the Valiants in the victory, while classmate Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)) made 26 saves on the other end of the ice to pick up the win.
 
The first period featured only one goal, coming off the stick of Anderson. With Manhattanville on its first power play of the night, Anderson collected the puck in the defensive zone and skated all the way up the ice before firing a wrist shot past Nazareth netminder Brandon Lane for the sophomore's seventh goal of the season.
 
Nazareth evened the score to start the second period on Oliver Janzen's third of the year, but the Valiants stormed back with three in a row to take a 4-1 lead into the final frame. Platt put the Valiants back on top with his seventh of the year, as he barreled into the crease from the right wing and stuffed the puck under Lane's pads at the 5:28 mark.
 
Berglund made it a 3-1 score at the 9:51 mark of the middle frame, as he took a drop pass from senior co-captain Nolan Marshall (Drumheller, Alta./Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)) and found the net for the fifth time this season. Fellow senior co-captain Teagan Waugh (Nanaimo, B.C./Powell River Kings (BCHL)) also recorded an assist on the score.
 
The eventual game-winner came with 2:16 left in the second off the stick off Gaul, as he went top shelf on a one-timer from the side of the circle after Anderson forced a turnover and made a nice pass to find his teammate.
 
Nazareth climbed back into the game with a pair of special-teams scores in the third period, getting a shorthanded goal from Justin LaCorte at 4:56 and a power-play tally from Austin Romzek at 7:59 to make it a one-goal game. However, the Valiants used a successful penalty kill to stabilize the game soon after, and the defense limited the Golden Flyers to just three shots on goal over the final nine minutes to secure the victory.
 
Feaver had another solid outing between the pipes for the Valiants, making 26 saves on 29 shots to improve to 8-6-1 on the season. Lane made 24 saves on 28 shots for Nazareth.
 
Manhattanville will continue ECAC West Conference play with another big matchup tomorrow night, when the Valiants welcome first-place Utica College to Playland for a 7 p.m. faceoff.