ASTON, Pa. – Lebanon Valley junior Harris Blackwood scored his fourth goal of the year to record his 25th career point for the men's ice hockey team in a 5-2 defeat at Neumann University on Friday evening.
 
Blackwood gave the Dutchmen an early lead as he scored 1:20 into the first period off an assist by Jordan Stear on the first shot on goal of the game. Neumann was awarded a power play opportunity a couple minutes later. Haralds Jirgens blocked a pair of shots, Chris Branch made a save, and then Reece McDonald blocked a shot to conclude a successful penalty kill. LVC responded with four shots on goal in a span of two minutes that were saved. The Dutchmen were called for another penalty and had another successful penalty kill. Neumann was able to score with 27 seconds left in the period to even the score at one headed into the first intermission.
 
The Knights began the second period with a power play goal 1:24 into the period to take a 2-1 lead. The teams traded penalties with neither team able to score over the first 10 minutes. Neumann increased their lead to 3-1 with a goal at 12:56. The Dutchmen had shots by Justin Davis, Jirgens, and Blackwood saved as LVC pressed to cut the lead in half before the period ended. The Knights were able to score one more goal in the period at 18:16 to take a 4-1 advantage into the second break.
 
The Dutchmen came out of the locker room on a mission as Jirgens had a shot saved in the first minute. LVC had a power play opportunity early in the period and has one shot saved, two shots go wide, and a shot blocked during the man advantage. Neumann was able to light the lamp at 5:02 for their fifth goal of the game. LVC earned another power play opportunity and had a pair of shots saved and a shot blocked during the advantage. The Dutchmen finally broke through at 14:37 as Jirgens blasted a shot from the right side into the back of the net off an assist by Cameron Croteau. LVC held the Knights without a shot for the final five minutes of the game and taking three shots. Joe Anton had a shot saved, Garret Jackson sent a shot wide, and then Lindberg had his attempt blocked.
 
Inside the Box

• Blackwood scored for the third time in four games and recorded a point in his fourth straight game. He now has 25 points in his career on 11 goals and 14 assists.
• Jirgens took a team-high five shots and blocked a team-high three shots. He scored the fifth goal of his collegiate career.
• Stear recorded his fourth assist of the year while Croteau recorded his second.
• Croteau led the Dutchmen on faceoffs with 12 wins on 23 attempts.
• Branch made 18 saves on 20 shots in goal while Gabriel Pigeon made nine saves on 12 shots. 

Up Next
The teams will conclude the weekend series tomorrow evening at Hersheypark Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. on First Responder Night in Hershey.

Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC Athletics.