RYE, N.Y. – For the first time since November of 2009, a Valiant men’s hockey player notched a program-record-tying four goals in a single game. Manhattanville College men’s ice hockey senior assistant captain Ken McLean (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) accomplished that feat today – his first-ever multi-goal game – Saturday, Jan. 18, as the Crimson and White suffered a tough United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) loss to Neumann University by a score of 6-5. Mickey Lang and Chris Tafford are the only others to achieve that mark previously.
The Valiants (6-9-1, 3-6 UCHC) took the early lead, first at 2-1 in the first period, and then again with a 3-1 lead after scoring the lone goal in the second. However, it was the Knights (5-11, 4-5 UCHC) who notched the 5-2 advantage in the third period to come away with the victory.
Manhattanville’s first goal came just under four minutes in when the Valiants dumped the puck in deep. McLean came in hard on the forecheck, forced a turnover behind the net and threw the puck at the back of the Neumann netminder’s pad and saw it bounce off and into the net. The Knights tied it up with just over four minutes until the first intermission, but McLean found the back of the net once again next with 1:18 on the clock and the Valiants on the man-advantage. Sophomore Niko Happo (Kauniainen, Finland/Haukilahti Upper Secondary School) handled the puck at the top of the far circle, cycled it to senior co-captain Ryan Jackson (Montreal, Que./Pomfret School) at the point who ripped a shot on net. The rebound was kicked aside, right onto the blade of McLean’s stick, who scored on an open net.
The second period saw just one goal in the high-scoring affair. Happo grabbed the puck at center ice along the boards and passed it all the way into the offensive zone to hit an open rookie Nick Prestia (Niagara Falls, Ont./Salisbury School) on the breakaway. The freshman deked out the Neumann goalie to the left and scored on the backhand with just over 5:00 gone in the period, making it 3-1 Manhattanville.
The Knights scored first on the powerplay in the third before McLean was able to record the hat trick next with 5:28 gone in the period. The senior won the powerplay faceoff back to Jackson at the point, who sent it to the far circle where Happo passed the puck cross-ice to McLean for a wrister past the goalie and make 4-2 with 14:32 remaining.
Neumann would rattle off the next three goals in less than five minutes to take a 5-4 lead. However, it was once again McLean on the powerplay from Jackson and Happo that tied it up at 5-5 with under 7:00 remaining. Happo took the puck at the far point, spun around a Knights’ defender, backhanded a pass to Jackson who found McLean at the top of the near circle. The Valiant centerman snuck a shot under a sliding Neumann defender and past the screened netminder. Happo’s four assists tie him for second all-time on the program’s single-game record book, while McLean’s three powerplay scores tie for first. Unfortunately, it was Neumann who scored the final goal with just over 2:00 on the clock to take the game.
Manhattanville returns to action for a pair of upstate New York road UCHC contests next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 25-26, closing out the regular-season series with both Nazareth College and #6 Utica College.
