RYE, N.Y. – Shane Tracy recorded a hat trick to lead four Colonels with three points apiece as Curry College defeated Manhattanville College by a 7-4 margin in non-conference men’s hockey action on Saturday night at Playland Ice Casino.
In addition to Tracy’s three goals, the line of Jake Heisinger, Lionel Mauron and Tyler Vankleef combined for three goals and five assists for Curry (7-3-1), which won for the third straight game. Mack Heisinger also had three assists for the visitors.
Junior Thimmy Garbenius (Nykvarn, Sweden/Sodertalje SK (SWE)) and sophomores Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) all had a goal and an assist each to lead Manhattanville (6-5-0), which lost when scoring four goals or more for the first time since February 15, 2014 against Elmira College.
Curry got out to an early start, taking its first lead on a Heisinger score 3:30 into the contest when he buried a two-on-one with Mauron. Manhattanville looked to tie the score on the game’s first power-play opportunity, but instead it was Tracy netting his first of the night while shorthanded to give his team a two-goal lead at the 8:36 mark.
The Valiants bounced back later in the period, scoring two goals in 30 seconds to knot the score. Garbenius got the home team on the board just five seconds into a power-play chance at the 15:51 mark, and Anderson lit the lamp half a minute later when he came down the far boards and rifled a shot past Curry netminder Spencer Cookson.
The second period was all Curry, as the visitors scored three times to take control of the game headed into the third. Zachery White scored a four-on-three goal to put the Colonels back up 4:53 into the period, and Vankleef added his team-leading 11th goal of the year at 8:01 on another Curry man advantage to again put the visitors up by a pair. Tracy’s second of the game 3:22 later made the score 5-2 in favor of Curry, as the visitors took 13 of the period’s first 15 shots.
Lippa got Manhattanville back within two less than three minutes into the third period, but the Valiants had trouble solving Cookson the rest of the way. Mauron and Valiant junior Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) scored nine seconds apart to keep it a two-goal game, but Tracy sealed the game with an empty-netter in the final minute.
Cookson made 26 saves for Curry and sophomore Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)) finished with 24 saves for Manhattanville, as the Colonels finished the game with a 31-30 edge in shots. Curry ended the night 3 for 8 on the power play, while the Valiants scored once on seven man-up chances.
Manhattanville will finish 2016 at the Middlebury Holiday Classic on December 30-31, beginning with a matchup against SUNY Canton on December 30 at 4 p.m.
