REISTERTOWN, Md. – Senior assistant captain Adam Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) registered his first career hat trick to lead the Manhattanville College men’s hockey team to its fourth straight win, an emphatic 5-1 victory over host Stevenson University in ECAC West Conference action at the Reistertown Sportsplex on Saturday night.
With the win, Manhattanville (5-3-0, 4-2-0 ECAC West) moves into a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings at the end of the first round of conference play. The Valiants will play their next nine games out of conference before finishing the season with eight more conference clashes beginning in mid-January.
Platt doubled his season goal total in one night and took over the team lead in goals this season for the Valiants, scoring the first goal of the game and then adding a pair of late insurance tallies in the third period. Senior co-captain Teagan Waugh (Nanaimo, B.C./Powell River Kings (BCHL)) and sophomore Jeff Beck (Broomall, Pa./Philadelphia Junior Flyers (EHL)) also scored for Manhattanville, while senior Tanner Hicks (Calgary, Alta./Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) added a pair of assists.
Manhattanville held a 12-9 edge in shots over the first 20 minutes and scored the frame’s only goal to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Platt got the visitors on the board with 4:03 left in the period, scoring his fourth of the season from the low slot off a nice feed from the near boards by junior Thimmy Garbenius (Nykvarn, Sweden/Sodertalje SK (SWE)). Senior Tanner Hicks (Calgary, Alta./Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) also assisted on the opening score.
The visitors struck again less than a minute into the second period, just seconds after a power-play opportunity had elapsed. Waugh corralled the rebound of a shot off the stick of sophomore Marco Ferraro (Toronto, Ont./St. Michael’s Buzzers (OJHL)) and somehow found the back of the net from the far sideboards for his fourth tally of the year, with the second assist going to sophomore Eric Berglund (Sollentuna, Sweden/Islanders Hockey Club (USPHL)).
Beck increased the Valiants’ lead to three 5:46 into the second stanza, putting home the rebound of a shot by senior Phil Dinner (Dallas, Texas/Connecticut Oilers (EJHL)) after senior co-captain Nolan Marshall (Drumheller, Alta./Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)) won a defensive zone faceoff to start a rush up the ice.
Stevenson got one back in the middle frame when Mark Bowen converted a breakaway chance against sophomore Tyler Feaver (Whitby, Ont./Whitby Fury (OJHL)), but the visitors still held a 3-1 lead headed into the third period.
Platt finished off the night with two more goals coming in the final seven minutes. He converted a good feed from Hicks on the man advantage with 6:45 remaining to make it a 4-1 game, and then got help from his brother, sophomore Bryan Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)), on a shorthanded empty-netter with 1:26 left.
Feaver had a good night at the other end of the ice for Manhattanville, turning aside 27 of the 28 shots he faced to earn the victory. The Valiants finished the evening with a 32-28 edge in shots, and also converted two power-play chances while keeping Stevenson scoreless on five man-up opportunities.
Manhattanville will face arguably its stiffest challenge of the year after Thanksgiving break, as defending national runner-up and current #2/3 Saint Norbert College make the trip east to Playland Ice Casino for the first of two games on Friday night at 7 p.m.
