GENEVA, N.Y.—The Manhattanville men's ice hockey team used a four-goal second period to defeat Hobart College 5-3 in an ECAC West game played tonight in The Cooler. The No. 5 Statesmen fall to 15-4-3 overall and 7-4-0 in conference play.
 
The Valiants, who are currently in second place in the league, are now 13-9-1 overall and 9-3-0 in the ECAC West. Hobart sits in third place with three conference games left to play.
 
Sophomore Jonas Toupal led Hobart with a goal and an assist. Junior goaltender Frank Oplinger made 24 saves in 58:44 in goal for the Statesmen. Matt Lippa led Manhattanville with two goals. Tyler Feaver finished with 29 saves in 60 minutes for the Valiants.
 
After a scoreless first period, the second period featured five goals between the teams, with the Valiants building a 4-1 lead. Just 1:46 in Bryan Platt capitalized on a penalty called on Hobart as time expired in the first. His power-play tally came off assists from Taylor Hicks and Loppatto. Just over a minute later, Eric Berglund took a pass across the front of the goal from Nolan Marshall and made it 2-0. Stephen Gaul also earned an assist. At 8:48, sophomore Tanner Shaw put the Statesmen on the scoreboard. His back door power-play goal came after quick passes from Toupal and first-year Lawson MacDougall. Lippa took advantage of a Hobart turnover deep in their defensive end to give Manhattanville a 3-1 lead at the 12:53 mark. Just 12 seconds later, Axel Walitott sent a blast from the blue line into the back of the net to extend the Valiant lead to three goals.
 
Hobart came out strong in the third period cutting the deficit to two just 2:45 in. Sophomore Jordan Haskell scored from right in front after a pass from junior Tyler Wolf from behind the goal. Senior Nick Bingaman also earned an assist on the play. However, just under six minutes later, Lippa struck again for Manhattanville, pushing a shot through traffic in front. With 7:08 remaining, Toupal logged a power-play to get the Statesmen back within two. Senior Carl Belizario and first-year Zach Sternbach were credited with the assists.
 
Hobart pulled Oplinger late in the contest for the extra skater, but were unable to strike again. The Statesmen finished with a 32-29 edge in shots, including a 15-3 lead in the final period. Hobart went 2-for-4 on the power play while Manhattanville finished 1-for-4.
 
The Statesmen will be back in action tomorrow, Feb. 11, when they host Neumann for another ECAC West game at 4 p.m.