RYE, N.Y. – The Neumann University men's ice hockey team was victorious in its first United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) game of the second half of its season, picking up a huge 6-5 come from behind win over host Manhattanville College on Saturday afternoon.

Dan Cangelosi was the difference-maker for Neumann on the day, scoring a hat-trick in the win. Richie Brusco (2 a) and Tommy Dougherty (1 g, 1 a) each chipped in with two points apiece, while Kyle Pantalone made 35 saves in net.

A back and forth first period of play would set the stage for a thrilling 60 minutes of college hockey on Saturday afternoon. Despite outshooting the hosts by a count of 15-10 in the first frame, Neumann found itself on the wrong end of a 2-1 score-line after one. The Valiants broke through with the game's first goal at the 3:58 mark of the period to take a 1-0 lead, but a Cangelosi power-play marker at 15:37 brought the contest back to level. Manhattanville killed the Neumann momentum just before intermission though, scoring with just 1:18 left in the opening 20 minutes on a power-play of its own to take a 2-1 lead into the break.

The Valiants would add to their lead in the second stanza, registering their third goal of the matchup just over five minutes into the frame to take a 3-1 advantage. Neumann had chances to cut the Manhattanville lead late in the period with three power play opportunities, but each man advantage went beckoning as the game remained 3-1 moving to the third.

The final 20 minutes of play would be one of the wildest periods of the season for the Knights. Showing an immense amount of resilience, the battle-tested group willed themselves back into the contest with tremendous effort in the final frame. After killing off an early Valiant power-play, Dougherty cut the hosts' lead in half with another power-play goal at 3:58 to make it 3-2. The visitors hit a roadblock in their comeback bid though just a minute and a half later, as Manhattanville struck back with its second power-play goal of the day to regain its two-goal cushion at 4-2.

Despite the setback, Neumann dug in even deeper and continued to claw its way back into the contest. Cangelosi's second goal of the night at the 7:57 brought the deficit back to one at 4-3 and set into motion a barrage on the Manhattanville goal. After scoring the third goal, the Knights blitzed the Valiants with two more tallies over the next 1:46 to stun the home crowd and take a 5-4 lead with 10:19 left to play. Barry Kneedler continued his clutch play of late with the game-tying fourth goal, while Cangelosi capped off his hat-trick with the fifth goal of the afternoon.

With Neumann clinging to a 5-4 lead midway through the period, it was now Manhattanville's turn to show its resolve. Again using the power-play, the Valiants answered back with a marker at the 13:18 mark to tie the slugfest back up at 5-5 with 6:42 left to play. Both teams had chances to win the game late on, but Neumann would have the last laugh on the afternoon. After earning their sixth power-play of the game, the Knights broke the deadlock for good just after the man-advantage expired, as Ryan Meyer found the back of the net with just 2:07 left to make it 6-5. The hosts pulled their goalie to try and even the matchup once again, but sturdy goaltending from Pantalone down the stretch sealed the huge 6-5 win for the Knights.

Neumann (5-11-0, 4-5-0 UCHC) will stay on the road next weekend for a pair of conference games at Utica College and Nazareth College. Puck-drop on Friday, January 24^th in Utica is scheduled for 7:00 PM.