Rye, NY – Chatham Men's Hockey (17-4-0, 8-4-0) matched up with Manhattanville (4-15-1, 3-8-0) in game two of their conference series on Saturday. The Cougars shut out the Valiants, handily winning 7-0 and sweeping the season series.
In the first period, the Cougars offense started right where they left off yesterday. Taking advantage of an early power play opportunity, Michael Roby fired his team-leading 19th goal of the season past the goaltender to put the Cougars up 1-0. Assisting with the goal were Nick Cyprian and Jake LaRusso. The teams would go scoreless the rest of the period, with the Cougars' goaltender Cameron Kuntar stopping all 11 shots on goal he faced.
The goals kept coming as the Cougars extended their lead in the second period. At 9:42, Cyprian got his 15th goal of the season, from Camden Davis, making it 2-0 Cougars. The lethal Cougars' power play would strike again, this time with Tyler Samodral picking the top corner for his 9th goal of the season. Roby and Cyprian earned assists on this one as they continued to drive the high-powered offense.
In the third period, the Cougars scored four more goals, putting the game out of reach, leading to the decisive sweep. Breyden Zupansky scored his second goal of the season, assisted by Brendan Pomerantz and Charlie Smith, at 3:56 of the frame, extending the Cougars' lead to 4-0. Kowin Belesterling's exceptional rookie campaign continued, picking up his 14th and 15th goals of the season. Roby and Nicholas Babbie picked up assists on Belesterling's two goals. The Cougars final goal of the game came from who else but Michael Roby as he blasted his second goal of the night, on the power play. LaRusso and Cyprian assisted on this one, capping off the Cougars commanding 7-0 victory.
4 different Cougars picked up multi-point games, with the aforementioned Michael Roby leading the way, picking up 2 goals and 3 assists. His five points in a game is a new career best for Roby, tying a program record for most points in a single matchup. Nick Cyprian also added 4 points (1 G, 3 A), with Nick Babbie and Jake LaRusso also adding two assists apiece. Camer Kuntar 's historic season continued in the net, earning his first shutout of the season. He made 37 saves in today's game, lowering his goals-against average to 1.90 on the season.
Men's Hockey returns home on February 13th for a critical conference series with Elmira at the Alpha Ice Complex. Game time is set for 4 pm.