After a Vincent Nucci goal knotted the score at 3-3 with less than eight minutes to go in the contest it seemed as if the Utica College men's hockey team had the momentum necessary to fend off the nationally-ranked No. 14 Manhattanville Valiants. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the Valiants netted three goals in the final six minutes en route to a 6-3 victory in conference play in front of 3,656 fans at the Aud on Friday night. Sophomore Tim Coffman netted two goals to pace the Pioneers.

Manhattanville improved to 13-4 overall and stands strong in second place in the conference standings behind Elmira, while the Pioneers have now lost two straight and dropped to 6-8-3 overall.

After a scoreless first period, the Aud erupted when Coffman netted the first goal of the contest 6:41 into the second period of play. Freshman Eric Peterson and senior Matt Fitzgibbons assisted on the power play goal which gave UC a 1-0 lead.

Just over nine minutes later Manhattaville silenced the home crowd by netting two goals in a span of 1:07 to take a 2-1 lead before the second period intermission. Scott Hudson, who ranks second on the team in scoring, netted his seventh goal of the season to tie the score at 1-1. Mickey Lang, the conference's leading scorer, added his team-best 18th goal of the season on a breakaway down the right side to give the Valiant's a one goal advantage at the 16:57 mark of the second.

The third period featured six goals. The first goal of the period gave Manhattanville a commanding 3-1 lead when AJ Mikkelsen netted his sixth tally of the season just 59 seconds into the third period of play.

In the face of adversity the Pioneers answered with two consecutive goals in less than three minutes to tie the score back up at 3-3. Coffman scored his second goal of the evening at 9:54 before Nucci added the game-tying goal at 12:24. Matt Fitzgibbons and Matt Jiminez assisted on Coffman's goal, while junior Sean Timkey added a helper on Nucci's goal.

1:43 later Arlen Marshall added the eventual game-winner for the Vailiants off assists from Dillon Henningson and Lem Randall. Dillon O'Hara and Matt Piegza added insurance goals in the final five minutes to seal the victory for Manhattanville.

Pierre-Olivier Lemieux improved his record to 9-1 on the year with 21 saves, while senior goalie Anthony Luckow stopped 33 shots in net for the Pioneers.

Utica returns to the ice next Friday night when the Pioneers travel to conference foe Elmira College for the first of a two-game weekend set. The contest on Friday night is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Manhattanville will stay in the Mohawk Valley this weekend as they travel to Morrisville for a non conference contest on Sunday at 2 p.m.

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