RYE, N.Y. — The Manhattanville men's ice hockey team took to their home ice in another aggressive battle against St. John Fisher on Saturday afternoon, falling 4-0 to the visiting Cardinals. Tripp Clarke (Cazenovia, N.Y./Northern Cyclones (USPHL Premier)) made 26 saves while Cameron Vassos (Caledon, Ontario/Navan Grads (CCHL)) struck in the third to break up the shutout, but it was not enough for the Valiants, who fall to 4-18-1 (3-11-0 UCHC) with the loss.
Before puck drop, Manhattanville honored the six graduating members for the final season as well as three junior honorees, recognizing their influential impact and contributions to the Valiants program. Clarke, Lucas Baksay (Fairfield, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)), Parker Chadwell (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Juniors (USPHL)), Zach Choueiri (Montreal, Quebec/Renfrew Wolves (CCHL)), Caden Eaton (Indian River, Mich./Cornwall Colts (CCHL)), Justin Fernet (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Taft School), Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)), Corey Popowcer (Parkland, Fla./Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) and Mitchell Watson (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) were celebrated ahead of the start of their final home games at the Playland Ice Casino.
After a back-and-forth opening that saw opportunities on both sides, Addam Brunner broke through for the Cardinals at the 8:59 mark from Jonathan Sonedecker. St. John Fisher went out to outshoot Manhattanville 15-10 in the period, with Eaton, Johno Hoins (Telluride, Colo./The Frederick Gunn School / Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and Ryan McKenna (Spokane, Wash./Sheridan Hawks (NA3HL)) leading the Valiants with two apiece.
Despite Manhattanville holding a 14-8 shot advantage in the second, St. John Fisher were the beneficiaries of all the scoring in the frame, tacking on three more goals to their lead. Lucas Di Chiara and James Evans scored 52 seconds apart in the early minutes of the second before Charlie Robinson added the final insurance tally at 13:21.
The Valiants were held scoreless through the second, even with three cracks at the power play. Manhattanville finally broke through 13:14 into the third as Vassos fired home his second goal of the season from Paddison.
Manhattanville won 33 faceoffs to Fisher's 27, led by 11 draw wins each from Hoins and McKenna.
Up Next:
The Valiants will head into their final weekend of season play as they travel to Elmira, N.Y., to face off against Elmira College on Friday, February 20th, at 7 PM.
