RYE, N.Y. – Playoffs returns to Playland on Wednesday night as the third-seeded Manhattanville University men's hockey team hosts home postseason action for the UCHC Quarterfinal round against No. 6 SUNY Brockport. The Valiants are looking to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2023 with a win, going against a Golden Eagle squad looking to make some noise in its first year in the conference.
  How We Got Here
The Valiants made the best of the new-look UCHC, earning its highest seed for the UCHC Championship since the conference's inaugural season in 2018-19. Manhattanville earned 25 points in conference play, going 8-11-1 against the UCHC to just outlast Chatham's 24 points (8-10-2 UCHC) to nab the three seed.

Manhattanville's pivotal win game in the final full home series of the season against Chatham, as the Valiants took down the Cougars 8-3 on the Playland ice to get the necessary points to secure the three-seed and the matchup with Brockport.
The Valiants have a leading forward duo of Nicholas Rogers (Broad Channel, N.Y./Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NA3HL)) and Artem Mateichenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/New Hampshire Avalanche (EHL)) that have been involved in the offensive gameplan all season long. Rogers leads the conference in scoring with 18 goals and will enter the postseason tilt ranked sixth in the country in goals per game (0.72). Mateichenko, meanwhile, set the program's career assists record with 18 apples on the year to bring his collegiate total up to 79. The tandem each carry 24 points on the year.

In net, the Valiants have employed a timeshare between William Billequey (Montreal, Quebec/Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) and Sebastian Woods (Limehouse, Ontario, Canada/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) as the primary goaltenders. Billequey has seen a majority of the action, sporting a 2.56 goals-against average across 14 games. Woods, meanwhile, hold a 3.49 GAA in his 11 contests.

Opposing Manhattanville will be SUNY Brockport. The Golden Eagles finished sixth in the regular season standings after going 4-16-0 in conference play, ending the slate on Saturday with a 5-3 win over Chatham. While the first season in their new conference home has been touch-and-go, ranking last in the conference in goals per game, there are playmakers to be on the lookout for. Schuyler Flansberg and Chase Maxwell each rank in the top 25 in goals in the conference, while Josh Grund has been making goalies work all year with 3.26 shots per game, the ninth most in the UCHC.

Four different goaltenders have taken to the ice for the Golden Eagles this season, with Cole Hudson seeing a majority of the opportunities. The junior holds a 3.89 goals-against average in 708-plus minutes on the ice with a .901 save percentage. David Filak has also played well to the tune of a 3.17 GAA and a .913 save percentage in his 454 minutes.

Last Time Out
The Valiants swept the regular season meetings against Brockport, winning the two games at Playland back in November before taking a pair upstate in January. Johno Hoins (Telluride, Colo./The Frederick Gunn School / Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)), Parker Chadwell (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Juniors (USPHL)) and Ryan McKenna (Spokane, Wash./Sheridan Hawks (NA3HL)) each scored in the 3-2 win in the opener, before Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)), Elijah Devereaux (Webster, N.Y./Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NA3HL)) and Rogers each logged a tally in a 3-0 victory the following day in front of a 37 save shutout by Billequey.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville

• Points: Rogers (24), Mateichenko (24), Hoins (21)
• Goals: Rogers (18), Hoins (8), Mateichenko (6)
• Assists: Mateichenko (18), Hoins (13), Paddison (12), Popowcer (12)
• Goals Against Average: Billequey (2.56), Woods (3.49), Clarke (5.17)

Brockport

• Points: Maxwell (14), Nikac (12), Gates (12)
• Goals: Flansburg (7), Maxwell (6), Haight (5)
• Assists: Gates (10), Nikac (9), Maxwell (8)
• Goals Against Average: Filak (3.17), Hudson (3.89), Easter (4.27)

History

• All-Time Record vs Brockport: 14-1
• Streak: W4
• Series Record at Manhattanville: 6-0
• Last Four Meetings (Home team listed second):
  • 1/25/25: Manhattanville 3, Brockport 0
  • 1/24/25: Manhattanville 3, Brockport 2
  • 11/9/24: Brockport 3, Manhattanville 6
  • 11/8/24: Brockport 4, Manhattanville 5

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