RYE, N.Y. -- Prior to the game Friday night, Nov. 9, the Manhattanville College men's ice hockey team paid tribute to the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey club and the unimaginable tragedy that occurred last April, a bus accident that resulted in 16 lives lost. The ceremony featured a lowering of the lights, followed by green thundersticks lighting up the entire rink at the packed Playland Ice Casino and a spotlight shining on a Humboldt Broncos flag in the arena. A special message was read in memoriam, followed by a reading of the names of those who passed and then 16 seconds of silence.

Following the touching ceremony, the Valiants (0-1-2, 0-1-2 United Collegiate Hockey Conference) then played host to the visiting Lebanon Valley College (2-1-1, 1-0-1 UCHC). It was a tail of three periods for the two teams. Manhattanville absolutely dominated play in the first, outshooting the Flying Dutchman 16-4 and taking a 1-0 lead into the intermission. Senior co-captain Casper Dyrssen (Stockholm, Sweden/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) found the back of the net for the Valiants for the first time this season, thanks to assists from classmate Jared Martin (Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and rookie Kyle Miller (Bristol, Conn./Trinity-Pawling).

The action flipped in the second period as Lebanon Valley was able to tie it up and outshot Manhattanville 12-3. The third period was much closer, although the Flying Dutchman still controlled the majority of puck possession time. Despite not controlling the pace of play for most of the period, the Valiants were able to capitalize. With 3:38 remaining in regulation, junior Joel Knight (Stoney Creak, Ont./Markham Royals (OJHL)) was called for interference, and so the home team found itself down a man on the penalty kill with the clock winding down. Manhattanville was able to stave of Lebanon Valley, as senior Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)) made a couple of clutch stops -- he was solid in net all night for the Valiants. As soon as Knight's penalty was over, senior Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) replaced him on the ice and broke free in transition to the offensive zone. He was able to overpower the Dutchmen defense and pushed the puck forward on the backhand and willed it into the net with a show of individual skill. Manhattanville now had the lead with 1:20 remaining in the third.

The puck was sent out of play in the Valiants defensive zone a little while later, and Lebanon Valley called a timeout to draw up a play. Out of the break, the Dutchmen came out with six skaters and an empty net. Some nifty passing led to an open shot and LVC tied it up with less than a minute left to force overtime. The first overtime period went scoreless, ensuring that the official NCAA result was a tie for both squads.

But, being that this was also a UCHC game, there was still an extra point to be had specifically for the conference standings. Of course, none of the stats recorded after the first overtime period, aside from penalties, count toward NCAA statistics, but the players still play to earn that extra point. With the second overtime period being 3-on-3, there is little room for error on either side. Unfortunately the Valiants were quickly called for an interference penalty, and the Dutchmen were able to capitalize on the powerplay and scored with 00:49 left to earn that second point in the UCHC standings.

Manhattanville is right back in action Saturday afternoon, Nov. 10, in another home UCHC contest at Playland, this time against Elmira College. Puck-drop is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.