OSWEGO, N.Y. – Junior netminder Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)) made 32 saves in 65 minutes and then made two stops in the shootout as the Manhattanville College men’s hockey team defeated #7/6 Hobart College in a shootout after the teams skated to a 3-3 (OT) tie in the opening game of the Pathfinder Bank Classic on Friday afternoon at the Marano Campus Center Arena.
Manhattanville (6-4-3) advances to tomorrow’s championship game, where they will face the winner of today’s second game between #4/2 Oswego State and Skidmore College. Hobart (8-2-3) will face the Oswego-Skidmore loser in the consolation game.
After 65 minutes could not decide a winner, Feaver stood tall in the shootout by denying Hobart on all three opportunities. After senior co-captain Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) scored to put the Valiants ahead after one round, Feaver denied Vincent Russo to secure the advantage, and then made a huge glove save to rob Mike Faulkner and earn the shootout win.
Gaul opened the scoring on the game’s first power play, as #17 scored exactly 17:00 into the first period, when he wristed a shot from the left circle into the top corner for his seventh goal of the year. Feaver made several key saves in the opening period to keep the Statesmen off the board, turning aside all 11 shots he faced. The two teams both took 11 shots on target over the first 20 minutes of play.
Hobart responded in kind on its first man advantage of the game, with Tanner Shaw scoring in the opening minute of the second period to knot the score at one. Senior Kevin Loppatto (Plano, Texas/Springfield Pics (USPHL)) put the Valiants back up by a goal at the 10:30 mark of the middle stanza, ringing the puck off both posts and in from the left circle for his second tally of the season, but the Statesmen evened the score in the final minute of the frame to send the teams into the third period tied at two.
The two teams went more than 15 minutes before the first goal of the third period from junior Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)), who regained the team lead in scoring with his eighth goal of the year to put the Valiants ahead by a 3-2 margin with 4:14 remaining on the clock. However, Hobart pulled the goalie with under two minutes left and Tyler Wolf sent the game to overtime by scoring with 1:22 left in regulation.
The two teams combined for only three shots on goal during the overtime, with Feaver making one save to send the game to a shootout. The Statesmen finished with a 35-28 edge in shots.
