WILKES-BARRE – Utica College scored with four seconds remaining in the third period to break a 1-1 tie and win a key United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) game over the Wilkes University men's ice hockey team by a 2-1 final Friday evening at the Toyota SportsPlex. The two sides entered the contest as two of four UCHC teams tied atop the standings with 15 points.

Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY/) tied the game with 3:45 left in the third period on a power play strike for the Colonels before the Pioneers earned their own power play to net the winner.

Wilkes dropped to 6-4 overall and 5-2 in the UCHC while Utica, a team receiving votes in the national top-15 polls, improved to 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the conference with 18 points.

Utica went on the first power play of the game only 1:00 into the contest but only generated one shot that Brandon Gordon (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/) was able to turn away.

The Colonels earned their first power play at the 3:21 mark of the first period and put a lot of rubber on the Utica net with seven shots on goal but Gianluca Baggetta was up to the task to stop all of the Wilkes scoring attempts.

At the 10:34 mark of the first, Wilkes was awarded a five-minute power play when a Utica player took a major penalty for hitting from behind. In the first three minutes of extra-man time the Colonels only registered three shots on goal and the power play opportunity ended short when Wilkes took an interference penalty.

The physical first period would end scoreless.

Wilkes earned the first power play of the second period at the 4:14 mark but it was short-lived as the Colonels were called for a goaltender interference penalty after a shot from Jivan Sidhu (Burnaby, BC/) from the point was saved by Baggetta at the 4:44 mark.

Utica struck for the first goal 41 seconds into a power play when Regen Cavanagh fired a shot into the back of the net from the right point off a pass from the left side of the ice from Joey Rutkowski for a 1-0 Pioneers lead at the 14:21 mark.

The game would remain at the 1-0 score until late in the third period. As the pro-Wilkes crowd at the Toyota SportsPlex urged the Colonels on, the energy in the building paid off on a power play at the 16:15 mark. Barrow circled with the puck and let a wrist shot go from out top that found its way through traffic and into the top of the goal past Baggetta. The freshman's ninth goal of the season is tied for the UCHC lead. Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ) earned his conference leading 12^th assist and Nick Fea (Oak Ridge, NJ/) added his 10^th on the play.

The game looked as if it was heading to overtime but Wilkes was called for a cross-checking penalty with 1:07 remaining in regulation to give Utica one final power play chance. The Pioneers took full advantage just before the final horn as Cavanagh scored off a shot from the point for his second of the game and eighth of the season.

Wilkes held a 33-20 advantage in shots on goal during the game and a 34-33 lead in the faceoff circle. Fea led the Colonels with six shots on goal while Flynn had a team-high 14 faceoff wins with Devon Schell (Scarsdale, NY/) adding 11 wins on 17 attempts.

Baggetta picked up the victory for Utica with 32 saves. Gordon made 18 stops for Wilkes.

Wilkes will now get ready for a quick turnaround as it faces another one of the teams it entered the weekend in a tie atop the standings with. The Colonels host Nazareth College tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena following the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers which starts at 3:05 p.m.