RYE, N.Y. – Artem Mateichenko's (Kharkov, Ukraine/NVK Dominanta) fourth career goal was arguably his biggest, as the freshman forward's tally with 10 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Manhattanville College men's hockey team a 4-3 victory over Neumann University on Friday night. The victory makes the Valiants 9-9-3 overall and 6-7-3 in UCHC play while officially clinching a spot in the postseason tournament. Manhattanville moves into fourth place in the UCHC standings with 21 total points.
Manhattanville erased a pair of Neumann one-goal leads before Mateichenko capped off the night with his overtime winner. The Ukraine product was set up by
Jarod Lavallee (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) and
Connor Boyce (St. Albans, Vt./The Winchendon School) with the assists before dragging the puck across the crease and firing it in top shelf with the wrister, beating a sprawling Cal Ambrose to the right side of the net.
The road to the overtime period was an adventure in its own right as Manhattanville had to fight its way back into a tied game on two separate occasions. Lavallee would get the home team on the board first 6:19 into the opening period after Neumann's Luke Croucher was sent to the penalty box for tripping. The Valiants logged four shots with the man advantage before the senior Lavallee netted his tenth of the year off feeds from Mateichenko and
James Gregory (Darien, CT/Darien High School).
The lead would not hold for long, as Croucher made up for his penalty with the tying goal at 9:09. The Knights then took their first lead of the night at 16:21 when Nick Martino scored an unassisted goal. Manhattanville would respond in the final minute of a back-and-forth first period on their second power play goal of the night. A delay of game call gave the Vals a 5-on-4 that saw the home team fire off five shots in 56 seconds, the last finding its way into the net off
AJ Bella's (Norwalk, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)) stick. It was Mateichenko and Gregory again earning the assists on the goal that would end the first in a 2-2 tie.
The Knights got a power play goal of their own in the second, the only scoring of the period.
Dylan Pollak (New Fairfield, Conn./South Kent School) was assessed a five minute major for boarding that gave Neumann ample time to work with the man advantage, but the Knights would score on their first shot from Barry Kneedler to put the guests back ahead.
The Neumann lead carried over into the third before the Valiants once again made the Knights pay for penalties. After Austin Boyle was called for hooking, Boyce was assisted by
Nick Prestia (Niagara Falls, Ont./Salisbury School) and
Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School) for his third goal of the year to tie the game up once again 6:51 into the third. The 3-3 tie held all the way into overtime before Mateichenko walked it off for the Crimson and White.
Reid Robertson (Plano, Texas/Plano West) manned the net for Manhattanville, making 26 saves to collect his third win of the year. The senior turned away all six Knights shots in the third before making another four saves in overtime to secure the win.
Manhattanville dominated faceoffs on the night, 38-19.
Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)) won a team-high 13 draws for Manhattanville, while Lavallee and
Josh Fletcher (Calgary, Alb./Central Memorial) each won 11. Manhattanville was 3-for-4 overall on the power play opportunities while successfully killing off four of Neumann's five man advantages on the night.
Up Next
The Valiants celebrate Senior Day tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. against Albertus Magnus.
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