UTICA, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's hockey team fell in Friday night's series opener against seventh-ranked Utica University, dropping the contest by a final of 6-2. The Valiants fall to 4-10-0 overall and 4-6-0 in UCHC action, holding in eighth place in the conference standings.

Facing one of the tops teams in the nation, the Valiants were unable to mount a response to Utica's offense that started the night off with a two-goal first period. Andrew Della Rovere lit the lamp 74 seconds into the contest before Aiden Hughes doubled up Utica's lead at 12:05.

The score held for close to 20 minutes before the Valiants broke through as Nicholas Rogers (Broad Channel, N.Y./Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NA3HL)) scored his third goal of his freshman campaign 11:35 into the second. The Pioneers would reestablish a two-goal advantage at 19:51 off the stick of Drake Morse.

After a Matt Wood goal at 6:40 opened up the third period scoring to put Utica ahead 4-1, Johno Hoins (Telluride, Colo./The Frederick Gunn School) netted his fourth tally of his rookie season with 9:12 remaining in regulation. The Valiants would be unable to get closer than two goals, as Gabriel Lundberg and Eric Vitale scored insurance goals for the Pioneers to solidify their 6-2 lead.

Sebastian Woods (Limehouse, Ontario, Canada/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) made 41 saves in the crease for Manhattanville, a new season-high for the sophomore tender. Woods made 20 stops in the second period alone.

Utica held a strong 40-28 advantage in the faceoff department. Raymond Speerbrecker (Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada/Revelstoke Grizzlies (KIJHL)) won a team-high ten faceoffs for Manhattanville.

The Valiants went 0-for-3 on the power play, logging eight total shots. The Pioneers went 1-for-2 with the man advantage, scoring once on five total shots.

Up Next
The Valiants will look to split the series tomorrow night returning to action at 7 p.m.

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