UTICA, N.Y. – Squaring off against the team ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Manhattanville College men's hockey team was defeated by Utica University on Saturday by a final of 6-2. The Valiants drop to 9-11-3 overall and 6-8-3 in UCHC play this season, sitting in sixth place in the conference with one game left to play in the regular season.

The Pioneers scored twice in the first five minutes of the first period before Jarod Lavallee (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) got the Valiants on the board nine minutes into the contest. The senior forward netted his 11^th goal of the season off an assist from Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School). The helper was Happo's 17^th of the season.

The Lavallee goal pulled the Valiants within one, but the Pioneers scored three straight goals to put the game out of reach. Buster Larsson scored on the power play with two minutes remaining in the first before also opening up the scoring in the second to put Utica up by three. Jayson Dobay followed with another power play goal, Utica's third of the day, 7:35 into the period. Josh Fletcher (Calgary, Alb./Central Memorial) would get the guests back on the board at 15:08 off assists from Mason Emoff (Collingwood, Ont./Bishop's College School) and Connor Boyce (St. Albans, Vt./The Winchendon School) with a power play goal of his own, but Utica's Brian Scoville scored two minutes later to reestablish the Pioneers' three score advantage. Both attack units were blanked in the final period of play.

Tyler Roy (Brighton, MI/Brighton High School) made a season-high 40 saves for the Valiants in a full 60 minutes in net. The Pioneers held a 37-18 advantage in faceoffs on the night, with Fletcher, Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)), and Raymond Speerbrecker (British Columbia, Canada/George Elliot Secondary School) each winning five draws for the Valiants. Manhattanville was 1-for-2 on power play opportunities with two total shots, while the Pioneers converted on all three of their man advantages.

Up Next
The Valiants have one last chance to improve their playoff seeding as the regular season draws to a close tomorrow. Manhattanville travels to Nazarethat 1 p.m. where the winner gets the No. 5 seed in next week's UCHC Conference Championship Tournament.

VALIANTS on SOCIAL MEDIA For the latest on Manhattanville Athletics, follow the Valiants via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. #GoValiants #RollVals