ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Following a strong weekend in which the then-No. 14 (now No. 10) Manhattanville College men’s hockey team picked up a 5-2 win over Buffalo State College and tied nationally-ranked Adrian College 3-3, sophomore assistant captain Alex Rowella (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Roughriders (EHL)) and freshman netminder Alexei Masanko (West Milford, N.J./Kingston Voyageurs (OJHL)) were selected as Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, by the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC).
Rowella posted a goal and an assist on Friday night, Nov. 1, in the win over the Bengals in the opening round of the Buffalo State Classic. He followed that up with another goal and assist in the Saturday, Nov. 2, tie with then-No. 7 (now No. 8) Adrian in the championship game. Masanko started the game against the Bulldogs and made 42 saves in 65:00 minutes on 45 shots. Though the game went into the books as a tie, it was the championship and the contest then went into a second overtime, followed by a shootout, to determine a tournament winner (Adrian, 2-1 in the shootout). Masanko made an additional five saves in the second overtime period, bringing his unofficial total to 47 saves on 50 shots.
This is the first-career weekly honor for both Rowella and Masanko. They, along with the rest of the Valiants, return to the ice next for their 2019-20 home-opener this Friday night, Nov. 8, at 7:00 p.m. at Playland Ice Casino in Rye, N.Y. Manhattanville, ranked No. 10 in the most recent USCHO (United States College Hockey Online) Division III Top 15 Poll, plays host to No. 14 Utica College in a contentious rematch of last season’s UCHC Tournament Championship Series, in which the Valiants emerged victorious to grab the automatic bid to NCAAs.
