GENESEO, N.Y. - Hanging tough with the nationally ranked squad, the Manhattanville University men's hockey team was narrowly beaten, 2-1, by Geneseo on Saturday afternoon. Following the loss, the Valiants now sit at an even 2-2-0, with the same mark in UCHC play. 

William Billequey (Montreal, Quebec/Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) was the story of the game for the Valiants, as the sophomore netminder got the nod and ran with it, totaling 55 saves in the contest. The Montreal native stood tall between the pipes, turning away .965 percent of attempts towards net for a new career-high saves tally. 

Manhattanville started off the scoring 11:02 into the first period as the man advantage expired for the Valiants, Johno Hoins (Telluride, Colo./The Frederick Gunn School / Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) finished off a feed from Ryan McKenna (Spokane, Wash./Sheridan Hawks (NA3HL)) and Lucas Baksay (Fairfield, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)) to mount the early lead. 

After hanging close in the first period, the Knights took control of the puck, totaling 31 shots compared to the Valiants' 12. Geneseo would eventually break through the Valiant defense, rippling the net from the stick of Zach Purcell, as he got a feed from Cooper Fensterstock and Dakota Zarudny to tie things up at one apiece. 

In the final stanza, the Knights continued their momentum built in the second period, firing 30 shots on goal, testing the Valiants' netminder. Just under six minutes of game time into the third period, the Knights were able to break the deadlock from Cannon Green, giving Geneseo a 2-1 lead with fifteen minutes to play. Manhattanville continued to play on the backfoot for the remainder of the period, eventually pulling their goaltender in favor for the extra skater to try and even things up. The attempt fell short as they could only muster one shot, seeing the final buzzer sound for a 2-1 Geneseo victory. 

Manhattanville was outshot 52-22 in the loss. Fernet led the attack with seven shots, as James Gregory (Darien, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)), Hoins, and Corey Popowcer (Parkland, Fla./Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) followed suit with five apiece. 

The Valiants were outdone in the faceoff circle, 39-28. Ryan McKenna (Spokane, Wash./Sheridan Hawks (NA3HL)) led with nine and Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) collected seven wins. 

Manhattanville's power play finished 0-for-4 on the night, logging five shots in their eight minutes with the extra skater. The Valiants penalty kill held firm, successfully blanking the Knights on their six power play chances. 

Up Next 

The Valiants return home next week to take on the Golden Flyers on Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. to continue UCHC play. 

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