Ice Knights advance to the UCHC Tournament Final after victory over Manhattanville
Photo courtesy of Geneseoknights.com
The Ice Knights punched their ticket to the UCHC final with a dominant 5-2 win over Manhattanville. They will face top-seeded Utica on Mar. 8 for the championship.
Expectations were high for the Geneseo Ice Knights going into their United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) semifinal matchup against the Manhattanville Valiants. Fortunately for Geneseo and their faithful following, the Knights continued their phenomenal play with a 5-2 victory on Saturday, Mar. 1, at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena.
Despite the Knights winning by multiple goals, the game was highly contested and competitive for most of the night, with both teams fighting tooth and nail to reach the UCHC final. But it was Geneseo who came out on top, and we’ll break down how the game unfolded.
After an early push from Manhattanville on the power play in the game's opening minutes, the Knights struck first on the man advantage. Senior forward Zach Purcell was the goal scorer for the Knights as he continued his excellent senior campaign. Freshman forward Payne Gatewood had the primary assist on the tally, while freshman defenseman Nicholas Kovacs had the secondary assist.
Minutes later, fellow senior Peter Morgan made a slick move in front of the net and buried it past sophomore Valiant goaltender William Billequey to make it 2-0 Knights. The first period would come to a close, with the Knights maintaining their two-goal advantage. Senior Goalie Adam Harris was sharp as he made 18 total saves in the period.
The second period was a complete dogfight as both teams traded blows. The Valiants came out with the first big punch as they were able to score goals at 11:31 and 16:25 of the period to even the game up at two goals apiece.
The Knight’s spirit didn’t waver for long, though, as freshman forward Bryce Howard rifled one past Billequey to recapture the lead right back for Geneseo. Freshman Defenseman Nicholas Kovacs and Sophomore Defenseman had the helpers on the play. The score would remain 3-2 going into the third and final period of the game.
The Knights rode the momentum from Howard’s goal into the third period as Peter Morgan struck again just 2:36 into the third. Nicholas Kovacs and sophomore forward Luke Panchisin got the assists on Morgan's goal. Nicholas Kovacs happened to have three assists on the night, which is a career-high in a game for the Knights's star young blueliner.
In the closing minutes of the third, sophomore forward Filip Wiberg put the finishing touches on the game with an empty net goal. Sophomore forward Carter Diceman and Peter Morgan had the assists on Wiberg’s empty net goal.
Adam Harris put forth a tremendous effort in the Ice Knights victory as he finished the game with 34 saves on 36 Valiants shots, which resulted in a .944 save percentage. Peter Morgan and Nicholas Kovacs were the two leading scorers on the night for Geneseo, each with three points.
After downing the Valiants, the Ice Knights are now set to play the number one overall seed in the tournament, the Utica Pioneers, in the UCHC final on Saturday, Mar. 8. Let’s go Knights!