WILKES-BARRE, PA. – Sitting at 53 career goals and tied for the program record, senior assistant captain Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) waited less than a period before putting the Valiants up 1-0 on the powerplay at 11:57 in the first to put himself atop the Manhattanville College men's hockey goal-scoring list. The Valiants went on to defeat Wilkes University 5-2 and capture the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) title. The win also made an impact on the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) standings as the Colonels entered the night atop the conference but have since fallen into a tie for second.
 
Following the Manhattanville (14-7-3, 10-4-2 UCHC) goal by Lippa in the first, Wilkes (16-6-1, 11-4-1 UCHC) knotted it up with just 1:37 left in the period. The Colonels ended up taking the lead at 2-1 at 5:03 in the second and took that one-goal lead into the second intermission.
 
Things remained that way until 12:38 in the third. At that point, the Valiants were once again on the powerplay and senior defenseman Axel Walltott (Stockholm, Sweden/Varmdo HC J20 (SWE)) made Wilkes pay and tied it up at 2-2, assisted by rookie Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Grankulla IFK Hockey Club (FIHA)) and senior blueliner Oscar Arfelt (Stockholm, Sweden/Connecticut Oilers (EHL)). Less than two minutes later, Manhattanville was on the man-advantage again and Lippa scored his second of the game, assisted by Happo and Walltott, at 14:13 in the third. Senior assistant captain Bryan Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) kept it going for the Valiants in the final minute of the game at 19:26 – assisted by rookie Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)) and senior Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) – to give Manhattanville a 4-2 lead by scoring on the empty net. Anderson closed out the game with an empty netter of his own with just 00:01 left to close it out at 5-2.
 
With the win, the Valiants take home the second-ever championship in MAC men's hockey history. Additionally, they split the season series with Wilkes and continue to solidify their positioning within the UCHC playoff standings. Manhattanville officially clinched the postseason last night after the win at King's College (Pa.) and are now just one point back from the Colonels and Elmira College, each tied for second behind first-place Utica College (38 points).
 
With the UCHC playoffs in sight, Manhattanville closes out the regular season this Friday night, Feb. 15, at Playland Ice Casino in Rye, N.Y. The Valiants will host Neumann University for a 7:00 p.m. puck-drop on Senior Night as 13 Valiant seniors close out their final regular season with the program.