RYE, N.Y. – For the first time all season, the Manhattanville College men's hockey team was held without a goal, dropping a 2-0 contest against Stevenson on Saturday afternoon. The Valiants have now lost four of their last five, falling to 8-9-3 overall and 5-7-3 in the UCHC in the process.
In a game with potential postseason seeding implications, the Valiants were unable to earn any conference points against the Mustangs with the regulation loss. Stevenson climbs up to third in the UCHC with 24 points, while Manhattanville remains tied with Nazareth 20 points each.
It took all the way until the waning seconds of the second period for someone to break through in the scoreless affair as Stevenson's Frank Vitucci finished an assist from Brendan Rylott with 31 ticks left on the clock before intermission. It would prove to ultimately be enough, but the Mustangs netted an insurance goal five minutes into the third as Chad Watt was able to score shorthanded from passes by Luke Benitez and Blake Colman.
The Valiants recorded 33 shots on the day, but were unable to solve Stevenson's Ryan Kenny in the cage. The Mustang goalkeeper turned away every shot he faced, including 12 saves in each of the last two periods.
Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Holy Cross (H.S.)) and
Jarod Lavallee (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) led the Valiants with five shots each.
Reid Robertson (Plano, Texas/Plano West) made 25 saves in the losing effort, dropping to 2-3-1 on the season. The senior goaltender made 11 saves in the third period to hold the Mustangs to just a two-goal advantage.
Manhattanville was 0-for-3 on the power play, logging six shots while giving up the shorthanded goal. Stevenson was blanked in their five power play opportunities, only registering one shot with the man advantage. The faceoff battle went in favor of the visitors, 37-29, with
Josh Fletcher (Calgary, Alb./Central Memorial) winning a team-high nine draws.
Up Next
Manhattanville looks to get back into the win column on Friday night, playing host to Neumann at 7 p.m.
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