Lebanon Valley 8, Chatham 4
 
LVC Starters
Johnson (LW), Sneath (C), Hovanec (RW), Straub (D), Yingst (D), Sorgio (G)
 
Chatham Starters
Hilderbrand (LW), Lutz (C), Underwood (RW), Breda (D), Ho (D), Gonzalez (G)
 
How It Happened
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Impressive games by Brett Johnson and Bryan Hovanec helped Lebanon Valley double up Chatham University 8-4 on Saturday night in men's ice hockey action. The Dutchmen improved to 5-3-2, 4-2-2 UCHC, while the Cougars fell to 2-8-0, 2-5-0 UCHC.
 
LVC got off to one of the best starts of its season when Johnson, assisted by Tyler Romel, scored a short-handed goal just 3:35 into the first. Johnson's goal was the first of five in the opening period. Halfway into the period, Hovanec found the back of the net with assists from Johnson and TJ Sneath for the Dutchmen's second goal of the night. Johnson went on to slip two more goals by Chatham's Ricardo Gonzalez within minutes of each other to reach a hat trick in just 15:48 of game action, one of the quickest to three goals in recent memory. The Dutchmen, however, weren't done lighting the lamp. With the assist from Johnson and Sneath, Hovanec ripped one in between the posts to cap a five-goal period for LVC, as they went into the first intermission with a 5-0 cushion.
 
In the second, the Dutchmen picked up where they left off in the first when Johnson scored his fourth goal of the game 9:06 in with assists from Sneath and Hovanec to create a 6-0 spread. Chatham got on the board at 11:39 on the second when Tristan Simm scored, but LVC quickly responded less than two minutes later when Hovanec scored his third of the game to reach the hat trick plateau and put LVC back up by six goals at 7-1 heading into third-period action.
 
Incredibly, Johnson added yet another-goal 5:38 into the third when he scored on the power-play to put the Dutchmen up 8-1. The Cougars netted three goals in the final minutes, but it wasn't nearly enough as LVC went to take the game 8-4 led by Johnson's career night.
 
Inside the Numbers
- Johnson had a career night of five goals and Hovanec tied his season high of three. Hovanec added a pair of assists on the night and totaled five points.
 - Johnson added three helpers to total eight points on the night, one of the best individual performances for LVC in recent memory.
 - Brad Nolan, Hepler, Romel, and Skyler Pugh registered one assist apiece.
- Sneath led both teams with a total of five assists, a new career-high.
- Hepler went 15-for-21 inside the circle with Sneath right behind him at 12-for-19.
 - The Dutchmen led in total faceoff wins at 44-31.
- Sorgio earned the win for the second-consecutive night after stopping 28 shots.
- 13 penalties were called on the evening.
- Chatham's Clay Plyler led the Cougars in shots on goal with four, one of which ended up scoring.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen are back on the ice after the new year when they take on Suffolk University at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 4 at the Warrior Ice Arena in the Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational.
 
Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC athletics.