UTICA, N.Y. - Playing the second-ranked team in two straight nip-and-tuck contests, the Manhattanville University men's hockey team was conquered by the home squad, 1-0, on Friday night at a packed Adirondack Bank Center. 

Sebastian Woods (Limehouse, Ontario, Canada/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) was the story of the game for the Valiants, as the junior turned in his best performance of the season, registering 47 saves in the affair, for .979 save percentage, as the netminder helped the Valiants stay in the contest for the entire 60 minutes. 

Woods had his most work of the night in the opening stanza, as the Pioneers unleashed 21 shots on goal, all being turned away by the Valiant goaltender. Utica was able to gain the man advantage due to a hooking call 12:20 into the period, but the Manhattanville penalty kill was able to stifle the four shots towards net. 

As the tilt shifted to the second period, the Pioneers still held a firm grasp on the flow of the game. Utica broke the deadlock thanks to another power play opportunity due to a tripping call. Johnny Mulera struck in the same fashion as the night before, Drake Morse Aydin Parekh setting Mulera up and giving Utica the 1-0 12:24 into the second period. Manhattanville would garner their one, and only opportunity with the man advantage, as a result of too many men on the ice penalty, but the Pioneers would parry away the two shots faced in the two-minute penalty kill. 

In the third and final period, both netminders would stand tall in their respective creases, with Woods saving ten attempts, and Ryan Piros saving eleven. As was the story for the opening period, both teams clamped down on their defensive ends on the ice. Manhattanville committed two penalties in the third period, one in the opening two minutes and the second coming 15:55 into the bout. The Valiants shut the door on the five shots fired toward the frame, once again seeing their penalty kill unit come out on top. Manhattanville pulled their goaltender with just under ninety seconds to play in favor of a sixth skater, attempting to level to contest. Their efforts would not pay off, as the Pioneers and Piros kept the clean sheet, dropping the second pairing between these two teams, 1-0. 

Southpaws Nicholas Rogers (Broad Channel, N.Y./Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NA3HL)) and Mitchell Watson (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) paced the Valiants with five shots apiece, as Parker Chadwell (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Juniors (USPHL)) and Zach Choueiri (Montreal, Quebec/Renfrew Wolves (CCHL)) followed suit with four each. 

Ryan McKenna (Spokane, Wash./Sheridan Hawks (NA3HL)) led Manhattanville in the faceoff circle with ten wins, as Johno Hoins (Telluride, Colo./The Frederick Gunn School / Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) rounded out the efforts with seven and six wins, respectively. 

Manhattanville went 0-for-1 on the power play, firing two shots. On the contrary, the penalty kill unit was effective for the Valiants, allowing Utica to turn in a 1-of-5 performance. 

Up Next 

Manhattanville stays cozy in upstate New York, heading to Brockport to wrap up the conference series against the Golden Eagles on Jan. 24 at 7:00 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