Rye, NY - The Neumann College Men's Ice Hockey team played in it's first ever ECAC playoff championship game on Saturday night. The Knight's came into the game seeded second. Their opponent, Manhattanville College, came into the game seeded first. The two teams had played each other three times prior to this climatic match with the Valiants winning one of those games 3-2 in Aston, Pa. The other two times these teams met they tied 3-3. 

Going into the championship game head coach Dennis Williams felt his team was ready to perform well saying in his pre-game interview, "We know we belong in this game. We have built towards this opportunity all year long. We expect to compete up and down the ice all night." And compete the Knights did.

With the game underway the Knights fell behind in the first period as Manhattanville scored the first goal of the game.  But the Knights responded when sophomore Eric Stoyanovich (Stratford Cullitons (MWOJHL)/London, ONT) teamed up with Stewart Sjoberg (So./Humboldt Broncos (SJHL)/Teulon, MB) and Mike DeMarchi (So./Milton IceHawks (OPJHL)/Mississauga, ONT) to tie the game at 1 - 1 just under seven minutes to play in the first period. At the end of the first period the score was tied 1-1 and you could tell this game was going to be a classic.

In the second period the Knights jumped out on top. Mark VanVliet (Jr./Quinnipiac/Dorchester, ONT) was set up by Neil Trimm (Jr. /Pembroke Lumber Kings (CJHL)/Westmeath, ONT) and Mike Gooch (Jr./OCN Blizzard (MJHL)/Mantua, NJ) for a Neumann power play goal.  Just like the Knights had done in the first period, the Valiants responded with a goal of their own. The teams headed into the third period tied 2-2.

The third period started out with both teams testing the waters. Each team tried to set up their offense and get into a good flow. Penalties prohibited either team from finding that flow and the game became a little choppy. Manhattanville was able to capitalize off of Neumann's missed opportunities to score first in the third period and take a 3-2 lead. The Knights appeared to be running out of steam and earned three consecutive penalties giving Manhattanville an opportunity to dominate the play.  Despite the pressure that the Valiants put on the Knights they could only walk away with one goal scoring again to go up 4-2 with 11 minutes to play.

Then the comeback began. Fighting for every loose puck the Knights demonstrated the qualities that make them a very special team. Tenacity, toughness, determination, speed and focus were put on full display as the values that Coach Williams had ingrained in his team came to surface. On the power play at the nine minute mark Trimm fired in a goal off a feed from VanVliet and Matt Ward (Fr./Brockville Braves (CJHL)/Kemptville, ONT) making the score 4-3. The Knights were able to put pressure on the Valiants and the results were three consecutive penalties including a five minute game misconduct against Manhattanville with 6:30 to play. Never being ones to miss an opportunity the Knights went to work quickly.  Setting up their power play they showed their poise as they began firing shots on the Manhattanville defense.  As the clock ticked less than four minutes the Knights found the net again with the help of a Trimm assist to VanVliet.  The game was tied with 1:30 to play at 4-4.  The Neumann defense did the rest as they shut down Manhattanville's late game pressure to try to end the game in regulation but the horn sounded with 4-4 on the board and the teams headed to sudden death over-time.

Overtime was identical to regulation. The Knights came out attacking and putting Manhattanville on the defense early. Unable to get a quick score Manhattanville began to mount some pressure and force the puck the other way. On one of these transitions Manhattanville was able to gather a pass and fast break towards Neumann goalie Mike Collichio (Jr./Syracuse Stars (OPJHL)/Rochester, NY). On what would be considered a controversial play Manhattanville's Troy Maleyko appeared to get the puck into the net after colliding into Collichio giving Manhattanville the game 5-4.

In his post-game interview Coach Williams reacted to the disappointing loss, "I knew we belonged in this game all year. Our guys are a special group of young men.  They have great character, presence and skill. Tonight, we came up short. This will eat at each of us for a long time." 

The Knights will wait to hear if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. They went into last night's game ranked 5^th in the NCAA regional rankings and 3^rd in the USCHO.com national rankings. The NCAA selections will be announced at 8 p.m. March 4, 2007.