Iona’s Ryan Manitowich scored twice within a 32-second span of the first period and finished with four points to spark the Iona Gaels to a 5-0 MAAC victory over visiting Bentley Saturday night at the New Roc City Arena.
The shutout was authored by senior Ben Brady. He finished with 25 saves while notching his first blanking of the season.
The win dropped the Falcons to 0-9-1 on the year, 0-7-1 in MAAC action while Iona improved to 6-4-1 overall, 5-1-1 in MAAC action.
Bentley opened the game by controlling the action for the first seven minutes until Manitowich scored his first at 7:05. Just 32 seconds later, Manitowich lit the lamp again, finishing a pass from junior Kris Swinney in front of the Bentley net. Manitowich completed his hat trick with a third period goal at 9:55 that made it 4-0.
Prior to the pair of first-period goals, Falcon goalie Ray DeVincent foiled a breakaway by Iona sophomore John Gilbert at 6:32, but the Gaels beat DeVincent a few moments later and gained momentum.
Iona junior Ryan Carter gave the Gaels a 3-0 lead with the only goal of the second period. Manitowich was credited with the assist, picking up his third point of the night.
Gael junior Erik Nates completed the Iona scoring with a goal at 14:28 of the third period.
Bentley returns to action on Dec. 1 and 3 with a pair of home games against Fairfield and Sacred Heart, respectively. Iona hosts Sacred Heart on Saturday.
