NEW LONDON, Conn. – Connecticut College scored the first three goals of the game and Manhattanville College could not complete the comeback as the Valiant men’s hockey team dropped a 5-2 contest to the Camels in non-conference action on Thursday night at Dayton Arena.
Sophomores Eric Berglund (Sollentuna, Sweden/Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL)) and Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) both scored for Manhattanville (7-7-0), but it was not enough to overcome a sluggish start that dropped the Valiants in a three-goal hole before the offense could get going.
Connecticut College (3-7-1) scored the only goal of the opening period with less than two minutes remaining, when Brian Belisle picked up his own deflection in front of the Valiant goal and put the puck past junior Kyle Redmond (Toronto, Ont./Northfield Mount Hermon) at the 18:04 mark.
The Camels increased their lead with two quick goals to begin the second period. William White one-timed a rebound home from the low shot 3:34 into the frame, and Vincent Ditmore followed with a wrist shot from the high slot less than a minute later to give the home team a 3-0 lead.
Manhattanville finally got on the board at the 5:53 mark of the second period, thanks to an excellent individual effort from Berglund. Junior Thimmy Garbenius (Nykvarn, Sweden/Sodertalje SK (SWE)) gathered the puck in the defensive zone and flipped it to center ice for Berglund, who muscled his way by multiple Camel defenders and then stuffed the puck past netminder Connor Rodericks for his fourth goal of the year.
The Valiants moved within one with 5:19 left in the middle stanza thanks to Lippa from Garbenius and Marshall, who fired a shot past Rodericks from the high slot after skating the puck into the zone himself. Garbenius and senior co-captain Nolan Marshall (Drumheller, Alta./Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)) picked up the assists on Lippa’s team-leading ninth goal of the season, a new career high for the sophomore.
The home team regained a two-goal lead with 12:48 left in the final period, as a shot from the point was redirected right to Jeff Thompson, who beat sophomore Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)), who came on in relief of Redmond after the third Camel goal.
The Camels added an empty-net tally in the final minute to complete the scoring.
Manhattanville finished with a slight 30-28 edge in shots on the night. Redmond took the loss, allowing three goals on 10 shots in 24:28 of action, while Feaver made 16 saves and allowed one score in 34:02 of relief work.
Manhattanville will play its final non-conference away game of the regular season on Saturday night, when the Valiants travel north to take on SUNY Cortland beginning at 7 p.m.
