ASTON, PA. – The Manhattanville College men's hockey team picked up a 7-3 victory Friday night, Dec. 7, on the road at United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) foe Neumann University.
 
The Valiants (6-2-2, 5-2-2 UCHC) fell behind the Knights (0-10-2, 0-6-2 UCHC) 1-0 early as the home squad scored on an unassisted chance with 5:47 remaining in the first period. Manhattanville was able to strike back in the waning seconds of the period as junior centerman Kenny McLean (New Rochelle, N.Y./New York Bobcats (EHL)) scored his third of the season – from seniors Marco Ferraro (Toronto, Ont./St. Michael's Buzzers (OJHL)) and co-captain Eric Berglund (Sollentuna, Sweden/Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL)) – to knot it up one goal apiece heading into the first intermission.
 
With just under three minutes gone in the second, sophomore Braeden Cross (Sechelt, B.C./Cochrane Crunch (CJHL)) gave Manhattanville its first lead of the night at 2-1 as he scored unassisted at 17:05 in the period. 2:09 later, Neumann forced the second tie score of the night as the Knights picked up their second goal with 5:04 gone in the period.
 
It was all Valiants from then on, as they outscored Neumann 5-1 throughout the remainder of the contest. Berglund scored his second of the season from rookie Jarod Lavallee (Cumberland, Maine/Seacoast Spartans (ECEL)) and sophomore Tristan Ramage (Pittsburgh, Pa./Philadelphia Flyers (USPHL)) with 13:58 remaining until the second intermission. Fellow senior Nigel Slade (St. Catherines, Ont./Niagara Falls Canucks (GOJHL)) extended Manhattanville's lead to 4-2 with his first of the season – from Ferraro and classmate Jeff Beck (Broomall, Pa./Philadelphia Junior Flyers (EHL)) – with just 1:21 left in the period. Neumann's Zac Boyle scored on the powerplay for his second goal of the game with 17 seconds remaining until the break to bring it to 4-3.
 
Cross scored his second of the night, and third of the season, on the poweplay early on in the third following a tripping penalty on the Knights in the first minute of the period to bring the Valiants' lead back to two at 5-3 – Berglund and senior Oscar Arfelt (Stockholm, Sweden/Connecticut Oilers (EHL)) assisted on Cross' score.
 
Senior Jared Martin (Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) scored his first of the season next for Manhattanville, from assistant captains Bryan Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) and Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)), at 5:13 into the third period to extend the lead to three. Rookie Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)) closed out the scoring for the night with 4:16 remaining – from Arfelt and Cross – for his fourth-career goal and third in the last two games.
 
Senior goalie Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)) made 30 stops in his return to the pipes for the Valiants. Overall, Manhattanville outshot the Knights 35-33, with 14 of those shots coming in the first period. Neumann held the 25-21 shot advantage in the second and third periods, so Feaver's performance was key in the victory for the Valiants.
 
Overall, Cross and Berglund led Manhattanville with three points apiece, while Ferraro and Arfelt continued to produce from the blue line, dishing out two assists each. Slade and fellow senior center Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) combined for 22 faceoff wins as the Valiants finished the game with the 50-31 advantage in the circle.
 
Up next for Manhattanville is a non-conference game this Sunday afternoon, Dec. 9, at home at the Playland Ice Casino in Rye, N.Y. The Valiants host the Trinity College Bantams for a 3:30 p.m. puck-drop.