RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's ice hockey team overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period with a trio of goals to come back and defeat Connecticut College at home on Saturday night, Nov. 30, by a score of 3-2 in Playland Ice Casino. Trailing 2-0 with just under 12:00 remaining in regulation, the Crimson and White went on a scoring spree, notching three tallies – two on the powerplay – to earn the hard fought one-goal victory.
 
The Valiants (4-5-1) started out the night with a quick man-advantage, as the Camels (2-4) were called for boarding at 2:13 into the first. However, it was the road squad that struck first ­­­at 7:02 into the period when the Camels snuck one in short side to make it 1-0 – that's how the period would end, despite the Manhattanville's 8-5 lead in shots on goal, as well as 2-0 advantage in powerplay opportunities.
 
Period number two was more of the same as the Valiants continued to control the puck but were unable to break through and get one past the Camels' netminder. Manhattanville held a slight 9-8 advantage in shots on goal, but definitely controlled momentum throughout the second 20 minutes. Back-to-back massive hits from senior co-captain Ryan Jackson (Montreal, Que./Hawkesbury Hawks (CCHL)) and sophomore Jarod Lavallee (Cumberland, Maine/Seacoast Spartans (ECEL)) in the final six minutes of the period continued to give the Valiants the edge. Unfortunately, several strong scoring changes for rookie Dylan Pollak (New Fairfield, Conn./South Kent School) and sophomore assistant captain Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)) were stopped by the Conn College goaltender to keep the road squad ahead 1-0.
 
The third period began with the Camels still on the powerplay, but the Valiants killed the remainder of it off. Manhattanville killed off another penalty just over five minutes into the period as well, but 00:48 later, the Conn College was able to go up 2-0 at 6:04. Just seconds after the ensuing faceoff, rookie Connor Boyce (St. Albans, Vt./Connecticut RoughRiders (EHL)) was called for a five-minute major for boarding to make it 5-on-4 in favor of the Camels. However, they managed just one just shot – saved by junior netminder Mac Vail (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Philadelphia Jr. Flyers (EHL)) – before they were called for a high sticking penalty to even it up at 4-on-4.
 
Manhattanville made quick work of this 4-on-4 opportunity at 8:08 in when Jackson hit freshman Noah Bradley (Lancaster, Pa./Philadelphia Revolution (EHL)) with an outlet to start a breakout. Bradley then found junior Braeden Cross open in the slot. Cross made one move and ripped one past the Camels' netminder to make it 2-1. Nearly six minutes later, now on a 5-on-3 advantage, the Crimson and White struck again – this time off the stick of Bradley himself. The rookie put away a one-timer from sophomore Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Syracuse Stars/New Jersey Hitmen (NCDC)) to tie it up at 2-2 at 14:33.
 
The Valiants – now with a stronghold on the momentum – kept pushing as they remained on a 5-on-4 advantage. Freshman Glynn Robitaille (Northville, Mich./Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) took a pass from his classmate Pollak and stickhandled from his own blueline all the way through the Camels' defense and sniped one on net and past the Conn College goalkeeper to make it 3-2 in favor of Manhattanville at 15:47. Vail – who made 22 saves in all for his fourth victory of the season – made three more stops in the final four minutes and change to hold the one-goal lead for the Valiants.
 
The Crimson and White look to build on this momentum next weekend when they return to United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) play for a pair of road games in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., before the nearly month-long break for the holidays. Manhattanville first faces Wilkes University on Friday night, Dec. 6, at 5:00 p.m., followed by a 4:00 p.m. matchup with King's College (Pa.) on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 7. The Valiants split last year's season series with the Colonels – Wilkes' first-ever as a varsity program – winning the all-important late-season contest 5-2 back on Feb. 9, 2019 in Wilkes-Barre. Manhattanville leads the Monarchs 4-0 all-time, most recently defeating King's 5-1 in Pennsylvania back on Feb. 8, 2019.