REISTERSTOWN, Md. – A three goal first period allowed the Manhattanville College men's hockey team to emerge victorious in hostile territory on Wednesday night, as the sixth-seeded Valiants defeated No. 3 Stevenson in the Quarterfinal Round of the UCHC Championship, 4-1. The Valiants advance to Saturday's semifinal round with the win, drawing a matchup with top-seeded Utica.
Manhattanville wasted no time making their presence known inside the Reisterstown Sportsplex on Wednesday, scoring twice in the opening four minutes to put the hosting Mustangs behind the eight ball. At 2:52 into the game, Stevenson's Graeme McCrory was sent to the penalty box for holding. The Valiants would only get one shot with the man advantage, but it was all that was needed, as
AJ Bella (Norwalk, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)) scored at 3:45 off setups from
Artem Mateichenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/NVK Dominanta) and
Jarod Lavallee (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) for his seventh score of the season. With the ice back full,
Raymond Speerbrecker (British Columbia, Canada/George Elliot Secondary School) fired the puck in the net again just 14 seconds after Bella's tally to spot the guests a 2-0 lead.
Troy Crosson (Hatfield, Pa./Pennridge) was credited with the helper on Speerbrecker's third of the year.
Bella was not quite done with the period, as the sophomore struck again at 18:24 in the first. This time, Bella did all the work himself, picking up an unassisted goal for his second of the night to give the Valiants a 3-0 lead through the opening 20.
From there,
Tyler Roy (Brighton, MI/Brighton High School) had all the breathing room he needed to slam the door shut. While the junior goalie only faced three shots in the first period, Stevenson was able to increase the pressure over the final two frames. The Mustangs fired 13 shots on net in the second, but Roy turned them all away. Roy would make another 10 saves in the third, holding the Mustangs scoreless for 59:37.
The Valiants would also be held off the board in the second, but
Josh Fletcher (Calgary, Alb./Central Memorial) was able to put the game on ice with an empty netter 18:37 into third.
Mason Emoff (Collingwood, Ont./Bishop's College School) and Bella earned assists on the final tally. With emotions running high as the Stevenson season came to a close, a slew of penalties were assessed following a brawl. When the dust settled, the Valiants found themselves down a skater, when the Mustangs were able to finally find a crack in the wall of Roy as Frank Vitucci scored in the closing seconds. The final 23 seconds went without any more drama, allowing the Valiants to punch their ticket to Utica.
The Mustangs held a 42-32 advantage in the faceoff circle, with
Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)) winning a team-high 10 draws for the Valiants.
Manhattanville will head upstate on Saturday to take on the No. 1 seeded Utica Pioneers in the UCHC Semifinals at 7 p.m.
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