ASTON, Pa. – The Manhattanville College men's hockey team battled back from a pair of deficits to even the score in the third period, but Neumann University scored the game-winner with 10:29 remaining in the final frame as the Valiants saw their four-game winning streak snapped by the Knights, 4-3, in ECAC West Conference action on Friday night at Ice Works.
 
The loss had no impact on Manhattanville (14-10-1, 10-4-0 ECAC West) in terms of postseason positioning, as the Valiants were locked into the second seed in the ECAC West prior to the weekend. Neumann (15-7-2, 7-6-1 ECAC West) moves into a temporary tie for fourth place in the ECAC West with Hobart College, but the Statesmen still have two conference games left to play.
 
Senior Tanner Hicks (Calgary, Alta./Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) led the Valiants with a goal and an assist on the night, while freshman Ryan Jackson (Montreal, Que./Hawkesbury Hawks (CCHL)) also had a two-point evening with a pair of helpers. Junior Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) and sophomore Jeff Beck (Broomall, Pa./Philadelphia Junior Flyers (EHL)) both scored as well for the visitors.
 
Manhattanville fell into a 2-0 hole after one period thanks to Neumann forward Jory Mullin, as the nation's leading scorer potted his 25th and 26th tallies of the season less than four minutes apart.
 
Manhattanville responded with a pair of power-play goals less than two minutes apart in the middle frame to tie the score, as Gaul netted his sixth of the year at the 7:29 mark and Hicks followed at 9:23 to tie the score at two. However, Hicks was called for a penalty after the goal, and Neumann's Shane Topf made the Valiants pay with a score on the subsequent man advantage to put the Knights back up after two periods.
 
Beck got the Valiants back to even again 4:50 into the third period with his fourth of the season, but the tie lasted less than five minutes before Colin O'Neil potted the eventual game-winner for Neumann midway through the frame.
 
Neumann finished the game with a 35-28 edge in shots, as sophomore Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)) made 31 saves for the Valiants in a losing effort.
 
Manhattanville earned a bye through the first round of the ECAC West Conference Tournament and will face the highest remaining seed from the first-round games in the ECAC West Semifinals next Saturday at Playland Ice Casino beginning at 7 p.m. A full postseason preview will be available on GoValiants.com later next week.