RYE, N.Y. – Playing in front of a home crowd for the first time this season, the Manhattanville College men's hockey team was defeated by Wilkes University on Friday night, 9-3. With the loss, the Valiants fall to 0-2 on the season and begin UCHC play 0-1.

Connor Boyce (St. Albans, Vt./The Winchendon School), Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)) and Jarod Lavallee (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) each lit the lamp for the Valiants on the night. Lavallee also dished out an assist, while Hayden Taylor (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Country Day), Josh Fletcher (Calgary, Alb./Central Memorial), and Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School) all collected an assist as well.

The visiting Colonels jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period. Wilkes opened up the scoring on Nick Swain's second goal of the season seven minutes into the match. Nick Fea, Tyler Dill, and Donald Flynn would all score in the opening 20 minutes to put the Valiants in a steep hole.

Manhattanville would get one back in the second, as Boyce was able to finish a Lavallee pass to get the Valiants on the board with a power play goal, his first of the season. The celebrations would be short lived, as the Colonels regained the four-goal advantage just 13 seconds later on a Max Cocchi tally. Wilkes added another courtesy of Phil Erickson, but the Valiants would strike last in the period, as Rowella was able to finish a feed from Fletcher to net a shorthanded goal and send the Vals into the locker room tailing 6-2.

Wilkes scored three unanswered to open up the third period, effectively putting the game away. Manhattanville would net another power play goal, this time off the stick of Lavallee from passes by Taylor and Happo, before the game was done. With just under two minutes remaining, a check shattered the glass between the penalty boxes. The two teams let the remaining time run off the clock while the pane was replaced.

Alexei Masanko (West Milford, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) got the start in net, allowing four goals while making 13 saves in the first period. He gave way to Tyler Roy (Brighton, MI/Brighton High School), who stopped 19 shots while allowing five goals over the final 40 minutes. Wilkes held a 41-33 advantage in faceoffs on the night.

Up Next
The Valiants will look to get in the win column on Saturday when they host King's College at 3 p.m.

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