PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Manhattanville College men’s hockey team showed some third-period toughness in its first-ever appearance in the Steel City, scoring three times in the third period to put away Chatham University by a 5-2 score in United Collegiate Hockey Conference action on Friday night at Frozen Pond Arena.
Junior Casper Dyrssen (Stockholm, Sweden/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) led Manhattanville (4-4-2, 4-3-0 UCHC) with a game-high three points, scoring once and adding two assists. Classmate Cory Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif./Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) added a goal and an assist while senior Stephen Gaul (Downers Grove, Ill./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) had a pair of helpers as well for the Valiants.
The Valiants struck twice in the opening period to take a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play. Freshman Taylor Bommarito (Sterling Heights, Mich./Charlotte Rush (USPHL)) continued his solid first season with a power-play goal 7:00 into the frame from Dyrssen and senior Kevin Loppatto (Plano, Texas/Springfield Pics (USPHL)), his fifth goal of the year. After Chatham’s Chris Lutz knotted the score at the 11:21 mark, Dyrssen made sure the visitors went into the intermission with the lead by potting his third of the season from Gaul and Anderson at 16:57 of the period.
Manhattanville outshot Chatham (0-7-2, 0-6-0 UCHC) 15-7 in the second period, but the only goal of the frame went to the Cougars, as Jace Burton scored 38 seconds into the frame to knot the score at two.
But the Valiants took control for good in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals to pick up the win. Anderson netted the game-winner at 3:53 of the stanza from Gaul and Dyrssen, his second goal of the year.
Junior Bryan Platt (Trumbull, Conn./Springfield Pics (USPHL)) gave the Valiants a key insurance goal with a shorthanded tally at the 16:09 mark of the period, and classmate Matt Lippa (Richmond Hill, Ont./Oakville Blades (OJHL)) put the game away with his team-leading seventh goal of the year with 1:55 remaining.
Manhattanville finished the evening with a 34-22 edge in shots. Senior Kyle Redmond (Toronto, Ont./Northfield Mount Hermon) improved to 2-0-0 by turning aside 20 shots for the visitors, while Trever Ralph made 29 saves for Chatham.
The Valiants will be back in action tomorrow night, when the team travels to take on Lebanon Valley College in a UCHC and Middle Atlantic Conference matchup beginning at 5 p.m.
