PITTSTON, Pa. – For the first time in four years, there will be men's hockey postseason action at the Playland Ice Casino as the Valiants secured the UCHC's No. 4 seed on Saturday afternoon with a 5-2 win over King's College. Manhattanville finishes the regular season 13-10-2 overall and 12-7-1 in the UCHC, having earned 37 points in conference play.

The Valiants own the standings tiebreaker over Chatham based upon both team's records against the No. 2 seed Stevenson, meaning regardless of the outcome of the Cougars' game against Nazareth tonight, Chatham cannot leapfrog Manhattanville in the standings. As the No. 4 seed, Manhattanville will have home ice in the opening round matchup against the No. 5 seed.

As was the case in yesterday's 6-2 win over the Monarchs, each goal on Saturday came off a different stick for the Valiants. A four-goal first put Manhattanville in control of the game, but it would be King's striking first. With 1:48 expired from the opening faceoff, Casey Gerstein scored for the home team off an assist from Jackson Grozelle. It took a while for the Valiants to get their footing back from the early blow, but the team would strike four times in the final seven minutes to turn the game on its head. Ben Steele (Auburn, Maine/Seacoast Spartans (EHL)) pulled the Valiants even at the 13:01 mark from Mitchell Watson (Calgary Alberta, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) and Artem Mateichenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/New Hampshire Avalanche (EHL)). It was Steele's second of his career, both of which have come in the last four games, while the secondary helper puts Mateichenko atop the team's assist leaderboard with 17 on the season.

The Valiants would take the lead 38 seconds later off Dan Barry's (St. Louis, Missouri/Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) sixth tally of the season, coming by way of Dylan Pollak (New Fairfield, Conn./Selects Academy (18U AAA)) and Hayden Taylor (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Islanders Hockey Club (NCDC)). Glynn Robitaille (Northville, Mich./Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) then struck at 17:41, scoring his fifth of the season from Troy Crosson (Hatfield, Pa./New Jersey Rockets (NCDC)) and Nick Prestia (Niagara Falls, Ont./Pickering Panthers (OJHL)). Not quite done, Mateichenko then put himself in the goal column with his fourth of the season courtesy of Watson and Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) with 1:50 remaining in the period as the Valiants took the 4-1 advantage into the first intermission.

The Monarchs inched closer with the lone goal in the second, a power play goal by Gerstein, but that would ultimately be all for the King's offense. The Valiants got the goal back late in the third as Watson capped off a three point outing with his fifth goal of the season from Paddison with 1:49 remaining in regulation.

Sebastian Woods (Limehouse, Ontario, Canada/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) manned the crease, making 30 saves to pick up the win. The rookie netminder had a double-digit save total in each of the first two periods. Woods will get ready for his first taste of collegiate postseason play as he carries a 2.89 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage into the tournament.

The Valiants had a 39-32 faceoff advantage on the day. Paddison was a stellar 16-of-18 on the draws, while Raymond Speerbecker added 10 wins of his own.

Manhattanville would be unsuccessful on the power play, finishing 0-for-4 with eight shots with the man advantage. The Monarchs went 1-for-3 with seven shots with the extra man.

Up Next
The Valiants await the final shakeup of the conference standings to see who they will host in the opening round of the UCHC. It will be either Wilkes or Chatham sporting the No. 5 seed and heading to the Ice Casino on Wednesday. More information will be available on www.GoValiants.com as it becomes available.

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