HARTFORD, Conn. – The Manhattanville College men's ice hockey team went up 1-0 midway through the first period on the road at No. 5 Trinity College Tuesday night, Nov. 26, but unfortunately was unable to hold on and fell by a final score of 6-2, including an empty-netter by the Bantams late.
 
The Valiants (3-5-1) were outshot 14-4 in the first period, but that did not stop them from putting a tally on the scoreboard first against Trinity (5-0). Junior netminder Mac Vail (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Baccalaureate School for Global Education) had stopped eight shots midway through the first before the Crimson and White notched their first attempt, but it was the Valiants' second on-target shot of the night that snuck past the Bantams' goaltender at 9:50 into the period. Rookie forward Dylan Pollak (New Fairfield, Conn./South Kent School) scored for Manhattanville – the second goal of his young career – and was assisted by senior defenseman and assistant captain Joel Knight (Stoney Creak, Ont./Orchard Park Secondary School), as well as fellow first year Valiant forward Jack McDonough (Princeton, N.J./La Salle College (H.S.)). It was the latter's first assist of his collegiate career.
 
Unfortunately, Trinity was able to tie it up on the powerplay with time winding down in the first and the two squads headed into the break knotted at 1-1. The Bantams then scored the only two goals in the second to make it 3-1, before quickly taking a 4-1 lead under a minute-and-a-half into the third period. Manhattanville was able to trim the deficit back to two goals when rookie forward Conner Hunt (Frisco, Texas/iSchool High) notched the first point of his collegiate career at 10:22 into the third – assisted by fellow freshman forward Noah Bradley (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) and sophomore forward Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School) – to make it 4-2.
 
Trinity scored two more times – once on an empty net – with less than two minutes remaining in the game, however, and secured the win over the visiting Valiants. Vail made 34 saves for Manhattanville between the pipes, while sophomore forward and assistant captain Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)) was strong on the faceoff dot, winning 12 of his 22 draws.
 
Manhattanville now takes a few days off for the holiday before returning to the ice in the second half of a non-conference men's and women's doubleheader at Playland Ice Casino in Rye, N.Y., this Saturday, Nov. 30. The Valiant women will host Connecticut College at 3:00 p.m., followed by the men's game between the Crimson and White and the Camels at 7:00 p.m.