Gray Goal Gives Bantams Win Against Manhattanville

Hartford, Conn. – Junior forward Will Gray (Wellesley, Mass.) wristed in the game-winning, short-handed goal at 11:13 of the third period, and classmate Ben Coulthard (South Windsor, Conn.) made 33 saves in net to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Manhattanville College Valiants in men's ice hockey action this evening at Williams Rink in the Koeppel Community Sports Center.  Trinity improves to 5-1-1 with its second win in a row with both triumphs coming against teams ranked among the top 15 nationally.  The Bantams had downed then-No. 8-ranked Amherst, 1-0, on Saturday.  No. 13-ranked Manhattanville falls to 8-3-1 with its first loss in four games. 

"I am really proud of our effort tonight," said Head Coach Matt Greason.  "We competed hard for 60 minutes and found a way to beat a great Manhattanville hockey team." 

Manhattanville held a 17-7 shooting edge in the first period, but the frame ended in a 1-1 tie, and Trinity outshot the Valiants, 27-17, the rest of the way.  Manhattanville opened the scoring immediately after Trinity had killed off a 5x3 situation when sophomore forward Mark Rivera (Belmar, N.J.) scored from close at 9:54 with assists credited to freshman Matt Coleman (Brentwood, N.Y.) and senior Scott Hudson (St. Albert, Alberta).  Trinity answered with 5:22 left in the opening stanza, as first-year forward John Hawkrigg (Toronto, Ontario) blasted a shot past Valiant sophomore goalie Brian Fleming (St. John, New Brunswick) from 15 feet away from senior captain forward Zach Lombardi (Locust Valley, N.Y.) and sophomore defenseman Greg Rooney (Boylston, Mass.). 

The score remained the same through the second period, as Fleming (31 saves) fought off 13 Bantam shots in the middle frame against eight for Coulthard.  Gray made a steal at the blue line during one of five Manhattanville power plays, and surprised Fleming with the go-ahead shot over his left shoulder from nearly the same spot as Hawkrigg's goal while on a 2-on-1 breakaway.  The Valiants nearly tied it when a shot from close on the left wing by Rivera hit the post, and Trinity sophomore defenseman Michael Flynn (Cheshire, Conn.) found iron with a close shot at the 6:14 mark.  Rivera got off a hard blast from the left face-off circle with 48 seconds left on the clock, but was denied by Coulthard who later recorded an assist on the empty netter as time expired by senior captain forward Chris Menard (Burlington, Mass.).

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