ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team fell in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) West action on Saturday afternoon to visiting Lebanon Valley College by a score of 3-1.
 
Collin O'Neil tallied Neumann's lone goal of the game off assists from Matt Zendejas and Ryan Luiten. Anthony Pupplo got his second start of the weekend in goal, making 29 saves on 32 shots.
 
Neumann would dominate the first period statistically, but came away with nothing to show for it. The Knights would outshoot Lebanon Valley by a count of 16-8 in the opening frame, but could not find the back of the net as the game headed to the first intermission scoreless.
 
The Flying Dutchmen would break the scoreless deadlock midway through the second stanza. After a Neumann player failed to keep the puck in the Lebanon Valley zone, the puck skirted its way into the neutral zone for a two-on-one that resulted in the game's opening goal. Down 1-0, the Knights would respond with solid play the remainder of the period. After several close chances, Neumann would level the score at the 16:29 mark. Luiten made a nice cross-ice pass to a streaking Zendejas who broke in the Lebanon Valley zone and fired a pass across the zone for a one-time finish by O'Neil to level the score. The game would head to the third knotted at one goal apiece with the Knights holding a 32-15 edge in shots.
 
The third period would be controlled by Lebanon Valley. After generating just 15 shots in the opening two periods, the Flying Dutchmen would register 17 in final frame. Most of those shots came via the power play, as the Knights were shorthanded three times in the period's first ten minutes. Neumann was able to kill off the first two penalties, but the third time was the charm for Lebanon Valley. The Flying Dutchmen banged home a loose puck in the crease on the third power play of the period to take a lead that they would not relinquish. Just six minutes later, Lebanon Valley would add an insurance marker that would seal the win. Neumann would pull its goalie in the final two minutes in an attempt to tie the game up, but the Flying Dutchmen would keep the Knights off the board and skate away with their first conference win of the season.
 
Neumann (13-7-2, 5-6 ECAC West) is back on the road for a pair of conference games next weekend versus Elmira College and Hobart College. Puck-drop on Friday, February 10^th at Elmira is scheduled for 7:00 PM.