HERSHEY, Pa. – Sophomore Bryan Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) scored the go-ahead goal with 3:28 left in the third period as the Manhattanville College men’s hockey team escaped HersheyPark Arena with a 4-3 victory over Lebanon Valley College in an ECAC West Conference matchup on Friday night.
The win is the third in a row for Manhattanville (4-3-0, 3-2-0 ECAC West), which moves into a tie for third place in the conference standings with its third straight conference victory. But the Valiants received all they could handle from upset-minded Lebanon Valley (0-6-1, 0-5-0 ECAC West), which was bidding for its first win in the last 75 games (0-73-2) as a varsity program dating back to November 10, 2007.
Platt and his brother, senior assistant captain Adam Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)), bookended the scoring for Manhattanville on the night, while junior Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) and sophomore Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) both found the net as well for the visitors in the victory. Senior Tanner Hicks (Calgary, Alta./Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) led the team with two points on a pair of assists.
The elder Platt got Manhattanville on the board first at the 7:20 mark of the opening frame, as he scored just eight seconds into the team’s first power play of the night. Assists on the goal went to Hicks and senior co-captain Teagan Waugh (Nanaimo, B.C./Powell River Kings (BCHL)).
The Valiant power-play unit struck again early in the second period, as Gaul deposited a 5-on-3 score 85 seconds into the frame to double the visitors’ lead. The Dutchmen did not go away quietly, tying the game midway through the period on goals from Travis Acker and Cole Helper just over three minutes apart, but Anderson put the Valiants ahead after two periods with his first of the year at the 17:00 mark.
Lebanon Valley took advantage of a Valiant penalty midway through the third period, as Brett Johnson evened the score at the 9:07 mark with his fifth of the season. But the younger Platt atoned for the penalty that helped LVC tie the score, scoring the game-winner off an assist from classmate Nigel Slade (St. Catherines, Ont./Niagara Falls Canucks (GOJHL)) at 16:32 of the final frame.
The Valiants hung on down the stretch, as sophomore Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)) denied Jared Karas three times in the final 17 seconds to secure the victory. Feaver made 25 saves to earn the win, as Manhattanville outshot Lebanon Valley by a 44-28 margin.
The Valiants will be back in action tomorrow night, when the team travels south to take on Stevenson University in another ECAC West Conference clash beginning at 7 p.m.
