RYE, N.Y. – Five different players scored a goal, including the first career tally from freshman Taylor Bommarito (Sterling Heights, Mich./Charlotte Rush (USPHL)) that turned out to be the game-winner, as the Manhattanville College men’s hockey team remained unbeaten with a 5-4 victory over Neumann University in a wild United Collegiate Hockey Conference matchup on Friday night at Playland Ice Casino.
In addition to Bommarito, the line of senior Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) and juniors Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and Jared Martin (Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) combined for three goals and fellow junior Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) also scored for Manhattanville (2-0-1, 2-0-0 UCHC). In all, 11 different players had at least one point on the night for the Valiants.
The Valiants peppered the net of Neumann netminder Anthony Pupplo in the opening period, putting 23 shots on target in the first 20 minutes of the game. However, despite a 13-1 edge in shots over the first 11-plus minutes, it was Neumann (1-3-1, 1-1-1 UCHC) that held a lead after Drew Bobynshyj tipped home a Barry Kneedler shot just 3:01 into the contest.
But Manhattanville used the power play to restore order to the period, as the Valiants scored three times on the man advantage as part of a four-goal spurt that gave the home team a 4-1 lead headed into the first intermission. Anderson got the Valiants back to even at the 11:29 mark, tipping home a shot from the point by classmate Oscar Arfelt (Stockholm, Sweden/Connecticut Oilers (EHL)). Lippa followed 2:39 later with his second of the year while the teams skated four-on-four to give the Valiants their first lead of the night.
The home team cemented its lead with a pair of man-up goals late in the period, with Gaul potting his second of the year with 2:41 remaining and Martin beating Pupplo with 26 seconds left.
Neumann used special teams to its advantage in the second stanza, scoring twice on the power play and once while shorthanded to get back in the game. Liam Board scored his team-leading fourth of the year 3:37 into the frame on the man advantage, and Mitchell scored just 11 seconds after Manhattanville went on the power play to cut the deficit to one with 9:47 left. But that same power play proved to be a fruitful one for the Valiants at the end, as Bommarito regained the team’s two-goal lead with the first goal of his collegiate career at the 11:55 mark, as he fired the puck off Pupplo and just over the goal line.
Ryan Swain got the Knights back within one again late in the second period, but that was the last goal allowed by senior Kyle Redmond (Toronto, Ont./Northfield Mount Hermon), who stopped all 13 shots he faced in the third period to guide the Valiants to a victory. Redmond finished the night with 27 saves, while Pupplo made 40 stops to keep his team in the game.
After going 0-for-7 in its first two games of the year, Manhattanville’s power-play unit was the difference on Friday, as the Valiants scored four times on 11 opportunities. Neumann also went 2-for-8 on the man advantage as well.
Manhattanville will return to UCHC action and also play its inaugural Middle Atlantic Conference game tomorrow night, as the Valiants host Stevenson University in a key conference clash beginning at 7 p.m. at Playland.
