In an exhibition game with an NCAA Division III team, the No. 18 Stony Brook hockey team did not have its recent history repeat itself.
In a matchup between David and Goliath, it was Goliath who walked away with the win this time around. The Seawolves (2-3-0, 1-0-0 ESCHL) traveled to Rye, N.Y. for an exhibition contest with the Manhattanville Valiants. In a game that does not count towards NCAA standings or the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s (ACHA) rankings, Manhattanville dominated Stony Brook 7-0.
Just four and a half minutes into the game, right winger Tom Liebold committed a roughing penalty to put the Seawolves on the penalty kill. On the power play, Manhattanville right winger Artem Mateichenko played a precise, cross-ice pass through Stony Brook’s defense. The pass set up left winger A.J. Bella with a one timer that beat goaltender Scott Barnikow.
The Valiants doubled their lead with just over four and a half minutes remaining. A shot on goal from Manhattanville center Elijah Devereaux was initially stopped by Barnikow, but the puck stayed loose in front of the net. Right winger Johno Hoins collected the rebound and buried the puck into the net. Hoins scored again with 32 seconds left in the first period with a wrist shot from the slot off a setup by Manhattanville center Caden Eaton.
The Seawolves never recovered from their poor opening period. Head coach Chris Garofalo said that the Valiants were simply too good for his team to handle.
“They are a really good team,” Garofalo said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “They came at us in layers. Their first line to their fourth line was so good. We were a step behind the entire game.”
Just over three and a half minutes into the second period, the Valiants struck again. A series of clean passes from Manhattanville left winger Tristan D’Elia to right defenseman Corey Popowcer set up right winger Lucas Baksay to score from the slot. Over two minutes later, Manhattanville center Raymond Speerbrecker won a puck battle below the goal line and passed it to Mateichenko, who was alone in front of the goal. Mateichenko ripped one into the back of the net to make it 5-0.
After falling behind by five goals, Garofalo made a change in the cage and subbed in goaltender Ben Monsivais for Barnikow.
After left winger Matt Minerva committed a roughing penalty, the Valiants scored another power-play goal with just seven minutes left in the middle frame. Manhattanville left defenseman Dan Barry set up left winger Noah Bradley, who took a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle and beat Monsivais.
With only eight seconds left in the second period, Eaton fed Baksay, who promptly sent the puck to the top left of the cage off a one-timer to finish the game’s scoring.
The Seawolves’ power play had another tough night, failing to score on either of its two opportunities. Garofalo said that they need to have better awareness moving forward.
“We have to be better on our zone entries,” Garofalo said. “We have to be able to read the play and adapt. We need to keep our heads up and see the options.”
The Valiants had five different skaters score, and 14 players in total found the scoresheet. They made life hard for Stony Brook’s penalty kill, as it was only successful on four of its six opportunities.
The Seawolves will return to ACHA play this weekend against the No. 24 Rhode Island Rams at The Rinx for a weekend series. Rhode Island is yet to play an Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) game and are 3-4-0 overall this year. The Rams are also coming off a loss to a Division III team, as they fell 4-3 to Worcester State University this past Friday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday, which will count as a league game.
