March 17, 2019

Geneseo men's ice hockey downs Manhattanville, 8-2, in NCAA Division III Tournament Quarterfinals

Manhattanville

18-9-5

Geneseo

25-1-2

Final	1	2	3	T
Manhattanville 18-9-5	1	1	0	2
Geneseo 25-1-2	1	4	3	8

Courtesy Geneseo Sports Information Department

GENESEO, N.Y. – SUNY Geneseo junior forward Andrew Romanototaled a goal and two assists to lead the Knights past visiting Manhattanville, 8-2, in the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals, Saturday, at Wilson Ice Arena.

Eight goal scorers pushed Geneseo (25-1-2) to its third "Frozen Four" in the last six years. The Knights will face Norwich (Vt.) on Friday (March 22) at the KB Willett Arena on the campus of UW-Stevens Point at 4:00 p.m. EDT with a berth in the national championship game on the line. Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Hobart also advanced in the night's other action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Manhattanville got on the board first after senior defenseman Marco Ferraro carried the puck into the Knights' zone and scored on a low wrist shot from the top of the slot that snuck in off the left post with 12:55 on the first-period clock.
Geneseo answered just over a minute later with a power-play tally at 11:51. Junior forward Conlan Keenan tipped a loose puck toward the Valiants' net that slipped through a defenseman's skates, bringing goalie Tyler Feaver off his line. Keenan got to the puck first and dropped a pass to Romano, who scored inside an open left post to knot the score.
The teams traded goals in the first 58 seconds of the second period. Junior forward David Szmyd cleaned up a Romano rebound on a right-wing rush for the Knights at 19:39 before Manhattanville capitalized on a failed clear following a faceoff in the Geneseo zone that resulted in a scoring wrist-shot by senior forward Matt Lippa at 19:02.
The Knights re-took the lead on a tally by Keenan at 12:49. Smzyd skated the puck on the Manhattanville net, but was pushed into the crease by a Valiant defender. Romano collected the loose puck behind the net and fed Keenan in front for a right-post finish.
The Knights scored two more times to finish the second period with a 5-2 lead. First-year forward Ryan Burnett dug a puck out of a crowd on the left boards to first-year forward Henry Cleghorn, who flipped a puck on net that slipped inside the left post at 5:34. Burnett then took a nice cross-ice feed from first-year forward Brendan Miller and scored on a right-wing rush with 1:43 on the clock.
Geneseo put the game away with three unanswered goals in the third period. Senior forward Joe Serpico took a shot in the slot that popped up and over Feaver for a short finish by sophomore forward Dan Bosio with 6:47 remaining. Miller scored an empty-net goal with 3:05 on the clock before senior forward Anthony Marra completed one final rush off a short pass by junior forward Tyson Empey with 2:31 left in regulation.

GAME NOTES

Geneseo improved to 14-0-1 at home this winter while out-scoring its opposition, 77-16, at Wilson Ice Arena.
Senior goalie Devin McDonald totaled 20 saves to improve to 23-1-2 this winter and 70-13-13 for his career to become only the fifth player in Division III history to win 70 games.
Romano surpassed Mike Roll '92 for 22nd place on the Knights' all-time scoring list with 115 points and into a three-way tie for ninth with 90 career assists. His 42 assists this winter are also the fifth-highest single season mark in program history.

WHAT'S NEXT

Geneseo rides a 23-game unbeaten streak (22-0-1) into the national semifinals and will face Norwich for only the second time in program history. The Knights defeated the visiting Cadets, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament to advance to their first Frozen Four in program history.