RYE, N.Y. – As the Manhattanville College men's ice hockey team nears the end of the regular season, every win is necessary to remain in contention for a United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Tournament berth. The Valiants are well aware of this and subsequently laid into King's College tonight for the 8-1 victory at Playland Ice Casino – they were a perfect 4-of-4 on the powerplay. Sophomore Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School) led the way with six points (two goals, four assists) to tie the program's single-game record.
 
The Valiants (9-12-2, 6-9-1 UCHC) dominated puck possession all night long and outshot the Monarchs (2-19-1, 1-13-1 UCHC) 47-22. Junior Mac Vail (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Baccalaureate School for Global Education) stopped 21 of those 22 shots from the visitors to notch his eighth victory of the season. Four players – senior assistant captains Joel Knight (Stoney Creak, Ont./Orchard Park Secondary School) and Ken McLean (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle), as well as Happo and rookie Hayden Taylor (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Country Day) – notched two goals apiece for Manhattanville. Additionally, McLean scored his 11th powerplay goal of the season which ranks him second in all of NCAA Division II/III and ties the program's single-season powerplay goal record. Furthermore, Happo now has 28 assists on the year which ranks him fifth in all of NCAA Division II/III and puts him two away from tying the program's single-season record of 30.
 
Manhattanville began quickly by taking a 4-1 advantage in the first 20 minutes of play. Rookie Mason Emoff (Collingwood, Ont./Bishop's College School) found Knight on the far side for the game's first goal to make it 1-0 under eight minutes in. King's would tie up at 1-1 at the midway point of the period, but four minutes later, Taylor scored his first of the night and second of the season on the man-advantage by capitalizing on traffic in front to make it 2-1. McLean followed with an even-strength goal just over three minutes later as Happo found his teammate wide open in the slot to make it 3-1. With just seconds remaining in the first, the Valiants closed out the scoring to make it 4-1 when Taylor found himself in front on the powerplay in traffic once again, and once again he put it in the back of the net for his first-career multi-goal game.
 
The squad scored two more times in the second period to take a 6-1 lead. Knight kicked it off just under two minutes in as he took a cross-ice pass and beat the Monarch netminder for his second of the game. Then, on another powerplay opportunity with just over 8:00 gone, Vail played the puck to senior co-captain Ryan Jackson (Montreal, Que./Pomfret School) for the breakout. He found Happo with a drop pass in his own zone and the Finnish sophomore flew from end-to-end, deked around the defender and snuck one into the back of the net for his first of the game – this was the first point of Vail's career.
 
The next period saw little scoring for the first 15:00, but McLean changed that with his second of the game – this time on the man-advantage – and made it 7-1 following a wide open chance at the near post to tie the program's single-season record for powerplay goals. The scoring for the night capped off following a penalty shot awarded to Happo, who was taken down by a hook on an otherwise wide open breakaway attempt. The winger beat the netminder through the five-hole for his second of the game to tie the program's single-game points record.
 
Highlights:

• Sophomore assistant captain Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)) finished with three assists on the night. He was also 14-of-22 in the faceoff circle.
• McLean added an assist for the three-point night and was 6-of-12 in faceoffs.
• Overall, 11 players recorded at least one point for the Valiants.
• McDonough had a solid night at the dot, winning 11-of-16 faceoffs to go with his assist.

Manhattanville returns to the ice tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, Feb. 15, for a 3:30 p.m. meeting with No. 13 Wilkes University at Playland. The Valiants will celebrate their three graduating seniors – Jackson, McLean and Knight – tomorrow for Senior Day as well.