PITTSTON, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley men's ice hockey team scored twice in the first 10 minutes and built a 5-0 second period advantage to win their second consecutive game with a 7-2 victory at King's College on Friday afternoon at Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston.
 
King's began the game with control of the puck and put four shots on goal in the first three minutes that were all saved by Chris Branch in net. The Dutchmen started to build some momentum with a couple of faceoff wins by Justin Davis before Brenden Yingling intercepted a pass inside the blue line and beat the Monarch goalie to the left for the first goal of the game. The Monarchs went back on the offensive putting four more shots on goal in the next three minutes but once again Branch was able to make the saves. Jered Stevenson gave the Dutchmen a 2-0 advantage nine minutes into the period as he intercepted a pass mid-ice and won a one-on-one battle with the goalie on the breakaway.
 
The Dutchmen were called for the first penalty of the game at 13:47 but held the Monarchs without a shot for the entire penalty kill. LVC went on the power play late in the period but were unable to score as Ethan Hoover and Haralds Jirgens had their shots saved by the KC goaltender. The Dutchmen entered the first intermission up 2-0 despite King's holding a 10-7 shot advantage.
 
The teams battled up and down the ice for the first 10 minutes of the second period with neither team able to score. King's had power play opportunity five minutes into the period but once again the LVC penalty kill was up to the task as they just allowed one shot on goal and four total shots during the successful kill. The Dutchmen put pressure on the Monarchs coming out of the penalty kill as Hoover, Yingling, Mac Diver, and Cameron Croteau all had a total of six shots saved in a span of three minutes.
 
Harris Blackwood gave the Dutchmen a 3-0 advantage at 12:30 of the period with a goal off an assist from Mason Proskin. Blackwood played the puck from behind the net out to Proskin before receiving the puck back and lighting the lamp. Blackwood then scored his second goal of the game not even two minutes later with a nice power play goal. Darion Benchich fed the puck to Blake Tosto at the left post of the net. Tosto then sent the puck across the crease to a streaking Blackwood who put it home. A little over a minute later Hoover made it 5-0 as he beat the Monarch goalie to the right on a rebound in front of the net off assists by Davis and Cade Freer. King's was able to cut the lead to 5-1 going into the second intermission with a goal with a little over two minutes to go in the period.
 
LVC came out onto the ice for the third period and scored 51 seconds in as Hoover scored his second of the game off an assist by Tosto. The Monarchs battled tough to try and get back into the game, but the Dutchmen were able to hold them at bay. Blackwood nearly increased the lead in the seventh minute of the period when his shot went off the pipe. King's was able to cut the lead to 6-2 with a goal at 13:03. LVC responded a little over a minute later as Stevenson sent a cross-ice pass to a streaking Croteau at the back post who tapped it in for a goal on a breakaway. The Dutchmen closed out the game by winning the last six faceoffs and allowed just two shots on goal over the final six minutes.
 
Inside the Box

• Hoover led the Dutchmen with seven shots and recorded his first career multi-point game with two goals to give him four on the season.
• Blackwood also had two goals to give him nine on the season and 16 in his career. The junior took four shots in his fourth multi-point game of the year. He has now scored in three of the last four games.
• Tosto had two assists to give him a team-leading 22 points on the season. The captain won an incredible 15 of 19 faceoff attempts.
• Stevenson also had a multi-point game with a goal and an assist. It is his second multi-point game of the season.
• Croteau had a goal on four shots and won eight of 14 faceoff attempts.
• Yingling scored for the fifth time in eight games for his sixth goal of the year.
• Branch made 29 saves in goal as the Dutchmen held a 32-31 shot advantage in the game. He made 10 saves in each of the first and third periods and made nine in the second.
•  The Dutchmen had a season-high 14 points on seven goals and seven assists with 32 shots.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will look to sweep the season series from the Monarchs tomorrow evening as they close out the weekend with a 6 p.m. puck drop back at the Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston.

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