NASHUA, N.H. – The offense came to life for the Manhattanville College men’s hockey team on Saturday night, as the Valiants earned their first win of the season with a 9-2 victory over Daniel Webster College in non-conference action at Conway Arena.
Multiple players had big games for Manhattanville (1-1-0) in the win. Senior Tanner Hicks (Calgary, Alta./Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) and sophomores Marco Ferraro (Toronto, Ont./St. Michael’s Buzzers (OJHL)) and Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) all had two goals each for the Valiants, while Ferraro and Lippa both added an assist for three-point nights. Junior Kevin Loppatto (Plano, Texas/Springfield Pics (USPHL)) had a game-high four points on a goal and three assists, while senior Teagan Waugh (Nanaimo, B.C./Powell River Kings (BCHL)) and junior Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) also scored for the Valiants in the victory.
The nine goals are the most scored by the Valiants since a 9-1 win over Elmira College in the ECAC West Conference Tournament on February 20, 2013. The seven-goal margin of victory is also the biggest since that postseason win over the Soaring Eagles.
Manhattanville jumped on Daniel Webster (0-2-0) early in the game, scoring three goals in the opening 10 minutes. Gaul started the scoring at the 5:16 mark of the game with his first of the year, followed by Ferraro on the power play at 9:00 and Loppatto at the 12:33 mark.
After letting the Eagles back into the game with two goals late in the opening frame, Manhattanville came back with three unanswered goals in the middle stanza to take a 6-2 lead into the third period. Lippa scored twice in less than seven minutes to make it a three-goal Valiant lead midway through the period, and Waugh added a power-play tally of his own with less than a minute to go in the middle frame.
Hicks took over the third period with back-to-back goals in the span of 22 seconds, followed by Ferraro’s second of the evening to complete the scoring. Freshman Ken McLean (New Rochelle, N.Y./New York Bobcats (EHL)) assisted on all three third-period goals to give him three points in his collegiate debut.
Junior Kyle Redmond (Toronto, Ont./Northfield Mount Hermon) picked up his first win of the season between the pipes for the Valiants, making 19 saves on 21 shots. Manhattanville finished the night with a 48-21 edge in attempts on goal.
Manhattanville will begin ECAC West Conference play next weekend, starting with a Friday night matchup at Nazareth College at 7 p.m. in Rochester.
