DANBURY, Conn. – After defying expectations to finish second in the ECAC West Conference regular-season standings, the Manhattanville College men’s hockey team was rewarded with five players earning All-ECAC West Conference recognition, the conference office announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Sophomores Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) and Anthony Ragone (Babylon, N.Y./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) led the team with spots on the All-ECAC West second team, followed by junior co-captain Nolan Marshall (Drumheller, Alta./Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)) as an All-Conference honorable mention. Freshmen Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) were also recognized as two of the three forwards on the ECAC West All-Rookie Team.
For Manhattanville, the five All-Conference honorees are tied for the most in a single season in program history and are the second-most in the conference this season, behind only conference frontrunner Hobart College.
Gaul is the team’s only repeat honoree, landing on the second team after receiving All-Rookie recognition last year. The sophomore leads the Valiants in scoring this year with a career-high 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points, ranking fourth in the conference in goals and eighth in points headed into the postseason. He also is tied for the conference lead in game-winning goals with four, including two overtime game-winners. In two seasons with Manhattanville, Gaul has scored 22 goals with 16 assists for 38 points.
Ragone has had another solid year on the blue line for Manhattanville, providing both a physical presence on defense and an offensive option at the other end of the ice. The sophomore has scored three goals with five assists for eight points this season, tying for sixth among conference blueliners in goals and ranking 14th in points. He has almost doubled his career scoring output so far in 2015-16, and now has six goals and 11 assists for 17 points as the team’s active leader in goals among defensemen.
Marshall earns his first career All-Conference recognition thanks to a career-best season so far in 2015-16. The junior ranks second on the team with 17 points on five goals and a team-leading 12 assists, including 12 points in 14 conference contests. He ended the regular season 11th in the ECAC West in helpers and also tied for second in both power-play goals (four) and power-play points (nine). In his first three years with the team, Marshall has netted 11 goals with 17 assists for 28 points.
Anderson and Lippa both were recognized as well after excellent rookie seasons to this point. Lippa ranks second among ECAC West freshmen with eight goals to go with five assists for 13 points, while Anderson leads the team and ranks second in the conference in rookie scoring with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points. Led by the tandem, Manhattanville boasts three of the conference’s top four rookies in both goals and assists this year.
Manhattanville’s All-Conference quintet will lead the Valiants into the ECAC West Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday night, as the second-seeded Valiants will take on a to-be-determined team beginning at 7 p.m. at Playland Ice Casino.
