PURCHASE, N.Y. – After a 4-1 victory over No. 5 Wilkes University in the quarterfinals, the No. 4 Manhattanville College men's hockey team will head to Utica, N.Y. on Saturday to take on No. 1 Utica University for a 2022 UCHC Championship semifinals rematch.
How We Got Here
On Wednesday evening, Manhattanville knocked off No. 5 Wilkes University, 4-1.
Mason Emoff (Collingwood, Ont./Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL), Pembroke Lumberkings (CCHL)) would lead the Valiants with two goals on the night, as
Mitchell Watson (Calgary Alberta, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) and
Nick Prestia (Niagara Falls, Ont./Pickering Panthers (OJHL)) would score one each.
Glynn Robitaille (Northville, Mich./Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) would add two assists to his stat line, while
Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)),
Artem Mateichenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/New Hampshire Avalanche (EHL)), and Prestia would each make a dish.
Sebastian Woods (Limehouse, Ontario, Canada/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) would save 23 shots fired his way through almost 60 minutes as the Valiants officially finished 2-1-0 against Wilkes on the season.
After two days of preparation, the Valiants will hit the road to take on No. 1 Utica University. The Pioneers claimed the first seed after finishing 20-0-0 in conference play and 23-2-1 overall. Beyond being just the top team in the conference, Utica holds the rank of the top team in the nation, keeping a grasp on the No. 1 ranking in the USCH DIII Poll released earleir this week. They played No. 8 Arcadia University in the quarterfinals on Wednesday evening and defeated the Knights, 5-2. Remy Parker, Matt Wood, Justin Allen, Mic Curran, and Dante Zapata would each light the lamp for the Pioneers to secure a semifinals matchup between the same teams that met this time last year.
Last Time Out
The Pioneers were last at Playland Ice Casino on the weekend of Jan. 6 for their regular season clash against the Valiants, sweeping the pair of bouts with the Vals. In net, Woods would total 75 saves for Manhattanville between the two games, while the offense would fire off 21 shots in the Friday tilt. On the Saturday rematch, 23 total shots and four goal scorers of
Troy Crosson (Hatfield, Pa./New Jersey Rockets (NCDC)),
AJ Bella (Norwalk, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)), Emoff, and
Josh Fletcher (Calgary, Alb./Kindersley Klippers (SJHL)) would rally to try and defeat the Pioneers but were ultimately succumbed 5-4 following s three goal Utica third. Jakob Breault, Buster Larsson, Lucas Hermann, Wood, and Parker would contribute to Utica's wins. This time around, the Pioneers will have home ice advantage at the Adirondack Bank Center Memorial Auditorium where they have gone 12-0-1 during the 2022-23 campaign.
In last year's semifinals bout, the Pioneers blanked the Valiants 4-0. The Valiants were held to just 16 total shots while
Tyler Roy (Brighton, MI/Neumann University) did everything he could in net, making 33 stops, but Manhattanville's season would come to a close at the hands of Utica.
Team Leaders
Manhattanville
- Points: Emoff (24), Mateichenko (22), Prestia (20)
- Goals: Bella (12), Emoff (11), Prestia and Taylor (8)
- Assists: Mateichenko (18), Gregory (16), Emoff (13)
- Goals Against Average: Woods (2.78), Roy (3.72), Clarke (4.09)
Utica
- Points: Curran (35), Parker and Dobay (34), Herrmann and Zapata (29)
- Goals: Parker (22), Curran (12) Herrmann, Cavanagh, Breault and Moncovich (11)
- Assists: Dobay (29), Curran (23), Johnson (20)
- Goals Against Average: Landsberger (1.80), Sturtz (3.84)
History
- All-Time Record: 24-34-5
- Streak: Utica W8
- Last 10: Utica 9-1
- Series Record at Utica: Utica 16-12-3
- Scores from Last Five Meetings:
- 1/7/2023: Manhattanville 4, Utica 5
- 1/6/2023: Manhattanville 0, Utica 3
- 2/26/2022: Utica 4, Manhattanville 0
- 2/19/2022: Utica 6, Manhattanville 2
- 1/15/2022: Manhattanville 2, Utica 3
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