HARTFORD, Conn. – The Valiants struck first, but No. 9/9 Trinity netted five unanswered goals to defeated the Manhattanville University men's hockey team in Sunday's return to action following the Thanksgiving break, 5-1. The Valiants fall to 3-4-1 overall on the year with the loss, while the nationally-ranked Bantams climb to 4-1-1.

Manhattanville has gone through the gauntlet in the early going of the season, with Sunday's matchup against the Bantams being the team's third contest against ranked opponents through the first month of the campaign. The Valiants were previously swept by Geneseo, who held a pair of No. 6 rankings at the time of play, on Nov. 15 and 16.

Sebastian Woods (Limehouse, Ontario, Canada/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) stood firm in the crease with a scoreless first period against an unrelenting Bantam attack that outshot Manhattanville 15-6 in the opening 20 minutes. The junior goaltender finished with 46 total saves in the loss, just two shy of his career-high.

Despite the shot discrepancy going against them, Manhattanville was able to break the ice on their first shot of the second period and seventh total in the contest. Ryan McKenna (Spokane, Wash./Sheridan Hawks (NA3HL)) won a faceoff in the Valiants' defensive end after Woods made three saves in the first 44 seconds of the period. The Valiants brought the puck down the other side of the rink where Johno Hoins (Telluride, Colo./The Frederick Gunn School / Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) was able to fire home his sixth goal of the season from McKenna and Tristan D'Elia (West Chester, Pa./Philadelphia Little Flyers (EHL)) just 68 seconds into the frame.

The Bantams fired back 1:40 later as Jacob Wilson finally broke through Woods' play in net to tie the game up off an assist from David Paluch. It was another period in which Trinity dominated the scoring chances, outshooting Manhattanville by a 16-7 margin. The Bantams ultimately wore down Manhattanville's defensive units, with Connor Sedlak and Nick Royster scoring later in the second to put Trinity up 3-1 heading into the third.

Trinity firmly pulled away with a pair of goals separated by 17 seconds in the third. James Barbour struck first at 3:32 before Richard Boysen lit the lamp at 3:49 to spot the ninth-ranked team in the nation a four-goal cushion. Manhattanville was held to eight shots over the final 20 minutes, all turned away by Devon Bobak in he Bantam crease before giving way to Aiden Hopewell who close out the night with a scoreless 2:08 in the cage.

Artem Mateichenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/New Hampshire Avalanche (EHL)) and Caden Eaton (Indian River, Mich./Cornwall Colts (CCHL)) generated the most looks for the Valiants, finishing the day with three shots apiece. Raymond Speerbrecker (Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada/Revelstoke Grizzlies (KIJHL)), Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)), Michael Locke (Wakefield, Mass./Northeast Generals (NA3HL)) and Zach Choueiri (Montreal, Quebec/Renfrew Wolves (CCHL)) each recorded a pair of shots, with Locke adding a team-high four blocks on the defensive end.

Paddison served as Manhattanville's faceoff leader in the contest with 10 draw wins, his fourth time in eight games he has reached double digits.

The Valiants were unsuccessful in their limited opportunities with the man advantage, going 0-for-2 on the power play without any shots. Manhattanville's penalty kill did a solid job containing the Bantams, holding Trinity to a 1-for-6 mark on the home team's power play chances.

Up Next
Manhattanville rounds out the 2024 half of the schedule on the road next weekend for a pair of UCHC tilts at Chatham University. Puck drop for Friday's series opener is slated for 7 p.m.

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