RYE, N.Y. -- Spencer MacLean '20 scored the game-winning goal on the power play and No. 15 Elmira College men's ice hockey fended off a late rally by Manhattanville College to secure a 2-1 victory over the Valiants on Friday night.

The win, Elmira's third in a row, lifts the team's record to 13-4-1 overall and 9-3-0 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC). Manhattanville, on the other hand, falls to 7-11-1 and 4-8-0 in UCHC play.

MacLean and fellow senior Nick Ford '20 were the goal scorers for the Purple and Gold, while Connor Powell '20, Anthony Parrucci '20, Kale Kane '21, and Harry Kramer '20 each earned assists. In goal, third-year netminder Chris Janzen '21 logged 15 saves en route to his eighth win of the year.

After 18-and-a-half minutes of scoreless action in the opening period, Powell and Ford broke out of the zone with a 2-on-1 advantage and put the Soaring Eagles ahead by one. Powell carried the puck into the offensive zone down the right-wing side. After his initial shot was blockered away by Mville goalie Alexei Masanko, Ford finished the play with a shot into the open net on the backside.

Although neither team scored in the middle period, the Valiants began a long stretch of consecutive penalties before the final intermission. At the 16:19 mark, Manhattanville was called for a two-minute tripping minor, which it was able to kill successfully. Seventeen seconds after that power play, Hayden Taylor was assessed a game misconduct and a five-minute major, a power-play opportunity for the Soaring Eagles that extended into the start of the third period.

MacLean's first game-winner of the year came 1:58 into the third on the prolonged power play. After the Valiants cleared their defensive zone, the Soaring Eagles worked the puck up into the neutral zone along the far wall. Kramer poked the puck ahead to Kane, who found MacLean down the left side of the ice. The fourth-year forward from Kleinburg, Ontario, had an uncontested look from the left faceoff dot and doubled EC's lead to 2-0.

Another infraction shortly thereafter resulted in a 5-on-3 advantage for the Soaring Eagles. Manhattanville was also sent to the box with tripping and boarding calls at 6:37 and 8:37. Elmira was unable to find the back of the net on any of those man-up chances, but rather than generating offense, the Valiants were forced to sit back and defend as valuable time ticked off of the clock.

Feeling the urgency late in regulation, the Valiants picked up the pace and managed to reduce the deficit to a single goal. After a series of quick passes from Niko Happo to Glynn Robitaille to Ken McLean, the latter beat Janzen with a close-range shot in front of the crease at 14:49. With less than a minute to go, Manhattanville pulled the goalie for an extra skater, but Janzen made a pair of saves, and EC cleared a last-second offensive zone faceoff to seal the win.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Aaron Saul '98 when asked about avenging the early-season loss to Manhattanville with a victory on the road…
"We knew tonight was important for us. Our compete level was very strong tonight, and it was the key to winning a close game."

News and Notes

• Elmira has won three consecutive games, including two in a row by one goal.
• The Soaring Eagles are 4-1-0 in one-goal games this season.
• EC improved to 7-1-1 in road games during the 2019-20 campaign.
• The Soaring Eagles finished 1-for-7 on the power play, while successfully killing all four Manhattanville power-play chances.
• With Elmira's first goal, Ford extended his point streak to 18 consecutive games. He has produced at least one point in every game of the season thus far.
• Powell's assist marked his team-leading 15th of the year.
• MacLean's goal was his fifth as a senior and his first game-winner of the season.
• The victory was the eighth of the year for Janzen, who is 3-0-0 in one-goal games as a Soaring Eagle.

Up Next
No. 15 Elmira continues its weekend road trip with a visit to Aston, Pennsylvania, for a 4:00 p.m. contest against Neumann University on Saturday, February 1.