Men's Hockey | 3/30/2021 5:00:00 PM

PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's hockey team is headed to the 2021 United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Tournament, as first-year head coach David Turco takes his eighth-seeded Valiants north Wednesday for a quarterfinal game against the top-seeded and defending champions Utica College Pioneers (7-1).

WHEN and WHERE: Wednesday, March 31, at 7:00 P.M. from Adirondack Bank Center at The Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, New York. Due to existing COVID-19 protocols, no spectators will be permitted on the premises until further notice. Fans can follow live stats and live video at http://www.govaliants.com/coverage. 

POSTSEASON HISTORY: Manhattanville will be seeking a sixth conference tournament championship after missing postseason play for the first time in its 20-year history a season ago. The Valiants are 14-16-2 all-time in conference tournament play and captured four tournament champions as a member of the ECAC West Conference (2005, 2007, 2008, 2010), in addition to topping the ECAC West regular-season standings twice (2006, 2007).

SEASON/ALL-TIME SERIES: Manhattanville and Utica did not meet for a regular-season matchup during the abbreviated 2020-21 season. This will be the 58th all-time meeting where the Pioneers hold the edge 28-24-5 record. The Valiants will be looking to repeat history by upsetting the defending champs as they did two years ago in the 2019 championship game to capture its fifth title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, first time since 2008.

LEADING THE WAY: Manhattanville were able to land a spot in the eight-team tournament although finishing the regular-season with a 0-3 record. The Valiants will look to members of the 2019 championship team, Braedan Cross (Sechelt, B.C./Shawnigan Lake), Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School), Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)) and Mac Vail (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Baccalaureate School for Global Education), for leadership during the postseason run.

THE QUEST TO THE PAT THOMPSON TROPHY: The 2021 UCHC Men's Championship Tournament will be a single elimination format and for the first time, eight teams will compete. The quarterfinal matchup includes:
No.6 Neumann University at No.2 Stevenson University at 4:30 P.M.
No.5 Chatham University at No.4 Elmira College at 7 P.M.
No.7 Nazareth College at No.3 Wilkes University at 7:30 P.M.

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