Box Score PINE VALLEY, N.Y. – The #15/14 Manhattanville men's hockey team took advantage of some shaky Elmira goaltending for the second straight game on Saturday night, as the Valiants scored the final three goals of the contest to finally put away the Soaring Eagles by a 7-5 score in ECAC West Conference action at the Murray Athletic Center.
 
Junior Louie Balzano (Staten Island, N.Y./New York Apple Core (EJHL)) led the Valiant onslaught with his first career multi-goal game, while senior co-captain Ron Smith (North Delta, B.C./Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL)) led all players with a career-high-tying three points on a goal and two assists. Seniors Brett Skalski (Exton, Pa./Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)) and Jason Bowles (Elkhorn, Man./Waywayseecappo Wolverines (MJHL)), junior Adam Young (Edmonton, Alta./Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL)) and freshman Matt Coleman (Brentwood, N.Y./Springfield Pics (EJHL)) also scored for Manhattanville in the win, which clinched the team's first-ever weekend sweep of Elmira at the MAC and kept the team in second place in the ECAC West standings.
 
Sophomore Brian Fleming (Saint John, N.B./Northern Cyclones (AJHL)) didn't have his best on Saturday night, but he was the beneficiary of the offensive uprising after turning side 25 of the 30 shots he faced. The Soaring Eagles, meanwhile, could not overcome their deficiencies between the pipes; Matt Milne was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots in 31:23 of action, while last night's starter Ryan deMelo ceded the final three goals on 15 shots to suffer the loss.
 
After a surprisingly tame night penalty-wise on Friday, the teams started Saturday seemingly determined to change that in the opening period by combining for 16 penalties and 40 total minutes in the box. Despite both teams going 0 for 4 with the man advantage, the Valiants still came out looking good by scoring the only two goals of the period.
 
Manhattanville got the first goal of the evening just after its first power-play chance of the game had expired, as Balzano netted his first of the night from seniors Brendan Turner (Tisdale, Sask./Lloydminster Bobcats (AJHL)) and Scott Hudson (St. Albert, Alta./Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)) at the 6:23 mark.
 
The Valiant lead increased to two after 20 minutes of play thanks to Skalski, who potted an unassisted tally with 3:45 remaining in the frame. Elmira finished the opening frame with a 10-7 shots edge.
 
The second period was a wild one on the scoresheet for both sides, as they combined for six goals to enter the third period knotted at four.
 
Elmira's Eric David made it a 2-1 game 4:22 into the middle frame; however, Manhattanville immediately answered back a mere 10 seconds later, as Young scored for the second straight night from Smith and sophomore Anton Racklin (Gothenburg, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)) to regain the team's two-goal edge.
 
The see-saw battle combined just over four minutes later when D'Arcy Oakes scored for Elmira, but again Manhattanville returned serve a few minutes later, as Balzano potted his second of the night at even strength to make it 4-2 in favor of the Valiants. Sophomore Rich Meyer (Port Monmouth, N.J./Boston Bulldogs (AtlJHL)) earned his first collegiate point with an assist on the goal, with the primary assist again going to Smith.
 
However, the Valiant lead did not make it to the end of the second period, as Greg Whittle made it a one-goal game at the 13:36 mark and Josh Burnell knotted the score with 1:51 remaining in the frame to make it all even headed to the third. The intermission did nothing to quell Elmira's momentum either, with Michael Collins giving the home team its first lead of the night only 18 seconds into the period.
 
But Manhattanville responded well to facing its first deficit of the night, scoring twice in less than two minutes to get right back on top. The tying goal came from the team's fledgling power-play unit, as Coleman corralled the puck in front of the Elmira net and poked it past deMelo for the score at 7:25 of the period. Less than 90 seconds later Bowles put the visitors back on top with a nice backhanded goal over the shoulder of deMelo, getting assists from Racklin and sophomore Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J./Springfield Pics (EJHL)).
 
Playing with a lead again, Elmira helped Manhattanville take time off the clock with some cheap penalties, as Eric David was whistled for a five-minute major for spearing a Valiant player and Greg Whittle brazenly charged into Fleming a few minutes later.
 
With the Valiants still nursing that one-goal advantage and the minutes winding down, the team's two co-captains combined on a score that clinched the victory. On a break out of the defensive zone, Skalski took a shot from the right side that was deflected back into the high slot where Smith was following the play, and the senior fired a huge slap shot past deMelo for his first of the year.
 
Manhattanville (7-2-1, 4-1-1 ECAC West) will start a string of six straight non-conference games on Tuesday night, when the team plays its only home game of December/January against Connecticut College. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Terry Conners Rink in Stamford, with the live GoValiants.TV video stream set to start at 7:15 p.m.