PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Senior Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) recorded his first-career hat trick Friday afternoon, Jan. 4, but it was not enough as the Manhattanville College men's ice hockey team suffered a tough 6-4 loss to Saint Anselm College in the first round of the W.B. Mason Winter Classic, hosted on the campus of Plattsburgh State University.
 
The Valiants (7-3-2), led by Lippa, started off the game on fire against the Hawks (8-8) and jumped out to a 3-1 lead. Lippa scored his first, assisted by classmate Marco Ferraro (Toronto, Ont./St. Michael's Buzzers (OJHL)), just over a minute into the game as he snapped one far side from inside the slot. Saint Anselm's Dave Almeida tied it up at 10:56 into the first, but Lippa got one more – this time from seniors Oscar Arfelt (Stockholm, Sweden/Connecticut Oilers (EHL)) and Nigel Slade (St. Catherines, Ont./Niagara Falls Canucks (GOJHL)) – with just 13 seconds left in the period, kicking Arfelt's pass in front to his forehand and scoring before the first intermission to give Manhattanville the 2-1 lead.
 
Lippa got the jump to start the second period and put the Valiants up 3-1 with 4:30 gone thanks to an assist from fellow senior assistant captain Bryan Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) as the two combined to force a turnover on the fore check in the Saint Anselm Zone. From that point on, the Hawks controlled the puck and pace of play. Manhattanville killed off its first two penalties of the game – one in the first and one in the second – but Ferraro was called for holding at 15:23 in the second and Bryan Green of Saint Anselm trimmed the Valiants lead to 3-2 with just under three minutes left in the period. Then, with 40 seconds remaining, the Hawks' Sean Verrier knotted it at 3-3 before the second intermission.
 
Saint Anselm scored two more – four straight overall – in the third to take the 5-3 lead with 6:46 gone in the period. During a penalty kill, senior co-captain Eric Berglund (Sollentuna, Sweden/Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL)) was able to cut the Hawks' lead back to one at 5-4 with 4:34 remaining after he forced a turnover in the offensive zone on the fore check and put one top shelf past the goalie, unassisted. Saint Anslem was able to get a shorty of its own, though, with just 1:23 remaining to seal it at 6-4.
 
Manhattanville will return to the ice for the consolation game tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 5, with puck drop schedule for 4:00 p.m. They will face the winner of tonight's Plattsburgh vs. Connecticut College game. The winner of that game will face Saint Anselm in the championship at 7:00 p.m.