RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's ice hockey team received 31 saves from rookie netminder Alexei Masanko (West Milford, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) and a perfectly executed tic-tac-toe goal late in the third period on Friday night, Jan. 31, but it was not enough as the Valiants suffered the 2-1 United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) defeat at Playland Ice Casino to No. 15 Elmira College, splitting the regular-season series with the Golden Eagles.
 
The Crimson and White (7-11-1, 4-8 UCHC) were outshot 33 to 16 by Elmira (13-4-1, 9-3 UCHC), but Masanko kept the Valiants in the game all night long. The freshman made nine saves in the first, 13 in the second and another nine in the third. Additionally, Manhattanville's lone goal of the night came with just over five minutes remaining in the third and off the stick of scoring leader senior assistant captain Ken McLean (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle). The Valiant centerman was the beneficiary of some artful passing by sophomore Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School) and freshman Glynn Robitaille (Northville, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central), who sent a pair of pristine passes through the slot to set McLean up for a wide open chance and his team-leading 14th goal of the season. Happo leads the Valiants with 23 assists and is second in all of NCAA Division II/III with 1.35 per game.
 
The first goal of the game came on a late two-on-one opportunity for the Soaring Eagles. Elmira's Connor Powell whiffed on his nearside forehand shot attempt, pausing Masanko's lateral movement before passing the puck through the slot to Nick Ford who went top shelf for the score with just 1:21 left until the first intermission. A game misconduct for rookie Hayden Taylor (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Country Day) late in the second set up the next opportunity for Elmira early in the third while still working away on the five-minute powerplay. The Soaring Eagles scored just under two minutes into the third, forcing the Valiants to battle back from a two-goal disadvantage.
 
Despite the solid performance from Masanko, the nice goal from McLean and the solid night on the penalty kill – the Valiants stifled 5-of-6 Elmira man-advantage opportunities – Manhattanville was unable to tie it up late and suffered the tough UCHC loss. The Crimson and White now sit in eighth place in the conference standings with 12 points, three points out of a tie for the sixth and final UCHC playoff spot. They are battling for that spot with Nazareth College (15), Neumann University (15) and Lebanon Valley College (13).
 
Manhattanville faces that Lebanon Valley squad with playoff implications on the line tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, Feb. 1, when the Flying Dutchmen come to Playland for a 3:30 p.m. puck drop. The Valiants lead LVC 26-4-2 all-time, but dropped the first game of the season series 3-2 in Hershey, Pa., back on Nov. 15, 2019.