PITTSBURGH, Pa. - In spite of the 53 shots unleashed by the Valiants offense, the Manhattanville College men's hockey team dropped the series finale against Chatham, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at the Hunt Armory Ice Arena. The Valiants now slip to 8-15-0 with an 8-10-0 record in UCHC play. Following the result, Manhattanville has clinched a seventh-seeded or better draw for UCHC postseason action. 

A season-high tally of shots was to no avail for the man of the match, the Cougars netminder Cameron Kuntar, who saved all but one of the Valiants' 53 chances on net. 

Liam Murphy kicked off the scoring late into the first period, when he lit the lamp finishing off a play from Lucas Rothe and True Crowe to put the Cougars up 1-0 with 16:13 elapsed in the period. The Valiants would have an opportunity with an extra skater as Chris Dusek headed to the box for a cross check. Chatham penalty kill unit would turn away opportunity, only allowing four shots in the two mintues with the extra skater. Manhattanville would rattle off 21 shots on goal in the period, with AJ Bella (Norwalk, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)) and Dan Barry (St. Louis, Missouri/Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) firing four apiece. The 1-0 mark would hold as both teams headed into the first intermission. 

Chatham once again struck first in the period, when Rothe found a goal of his own from assists by Matthew Doyle and Oscar Saarinen about halfway through the second period, to push the Cougars lead to 2-0. The Valiants would once again be held without a scoring opportunity, as all 18 shots fired at the opposing netminder were turned away. 

In the final stanza of play, the Cougars opened the period providing cushion, when Kadsen Johnson found the back netting, from Carson Grainer and Matthew Doyle 1:44 into the third period to build a 3-0 lead. The Valiants would find themselves a constellation goal on a power play opportunity, as the second shot with the man advantage found the back of the net, Bella tallied his team-high twelfth goal of the season. Manhattanville would attempt to claw their way back into the contest, pulling their goaltender in favor of an extra attacker. Still, the Cougars' defense was fierce, stopping all shots faced in the minute-thirty second with the man disadvantage, seeing the final buzzer sound to a 3-1 Chatham victory. 

Sebastian Woods (Limehouse, Ontario, Canada/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) was credited with the loss in the net for the Valiants. The sophomore tallied 35 saves in the contest for a .921 save percentage. 

In the center circle, the Cougars edged out the Valiants with 38 faceoff wins compared to Manhattanville's 35 wins. Ryan McKenna (Spokane, Wash./Sheridan Hawks (NA3HL)) paced the Valiants with eleven wins, followed by Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) and Caden Eaton (Indian River, Mich./Cornwall Colts (CCHL)) with ten and eight, respectively. 

Manhattanville went 1-for-3 on their power play opportunities, as they fired eleven shots in the 5:21 with the man advantage. The Valiant penalty kill was in full effect, going a perfect 3-3, turning away ten shots faced. 

Up Next 

The Valiants return to the Playland Ice Casino on Feb. 16, welcoming in King's (Pa.) at 7 p.m.