The nationally-ranked No. 7/9 Utica College men's hockey team defeated host Manhattanville College 2-1 in an ECAC Men's West Conference contest on Friday night.  The Pioneers held the Valiants scoreless for the final two periods of action to earn the key conference road victory.  UC senior forward George Lotito (Staten Island, NY/NH Jr. Monarchs (EJHL)) tallied the game-winner with 1:23 left in the second period and UC goalie Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced to help the Pioneers improve to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the highly competitive ECAC West.

Utica turns right back around on Saturday as it travels to Pennsylvania to take on ECAC West foe Neumann University in game two of a four game road trip.  The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.

Senior forward Adam Graff (Bear, DE/Syracuse Stars (EJHL)) got the Pioneers on the board late in the first period when he scored his second goal of the young season with 57 seconds left on the first period clock to put UC on top 1-0.  Graff's goal was assisted by Peter LaFosse (Merrimack, NH/Kimball Union Academy).

Just 23 short seconds later Manhattanville knotted the score at 1-1 when Jake Mooney scored his first goal of the season past UC goalie Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) to even the game back up at one a piece.

Lotito lit the lamp late in the second period to put the Pioneers back on top 2-1 with 1:23 left in the second.  Junior All-American Louie Educated was credited with an assist as the Pioneers skated into the second intermission with a one goal advantage over the Valiants.

Utica killed a key penalty late in the third period of play and they were able to fend off the Valiants empty-net attack with under one minute on the game clock to earn the victory.

UC outshot the Valiants 27-25 on the afternoon, while both teams were held scoreless on the power-play (Utica 0-for-7, M'Ville 0-for-4).

The last time UC played Manhattanville was in the semifinals of the ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament last season when the Pioneers dropped a 2-1 overtime decision.

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