Wilkes Men's Ice Hockey Explodes in Final Two Periods against Manhattanville
WILKES-BARRE – Facing a 2-0 deficit after one period, the Wilkes University men's ice hockey team exploded for seven goals over the final 40 minute to keep its United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) record spotless in a 7-5 win over Manhattanville College at the Toyota SportsPlex on Friday evening.
The Colonels improved to 6-0-0 in conference ad 8-2-0 overall with the win.
Manhattanville controlled play for the first 10-plus minutes. The Valiants opened the scoring with a power-play tally at 3:24 in the first period following a too many men bench minor penalty on Wilkes. Manhattanville pushed its advantage to 2-0 at 12:10 in the first with an unassisted tally, which is were the score remained after the first period.
Taylor Bommarito (Sterling Heights, MI/) got the Colonels on the board with an unassisted score at 4:18 in the second.
Ryan Galvin (Atlanta, GA/) tied the score at 11:13 in the second when he deflected a shot from the point by Dylan Kuipers (Andover, NJ/), with the secondary assist credited to Joey Pasquini (Schenectady, NY/).
The Valiants retook the lead at 15:47 in the second with an unassisted tally. Wilkes wasted very little time, tying the score at 16:33 in the second when Nick Godfrey (Cedar Run, NJ) scored with assists from Paul Cimilluca (Colonia, NJ/) and Devon Schell (Scarsdale, NY/).
Manhattanville attempted to hold the puck to end the second, but the Colonels forecheck took the puck from behind the Valiants net as Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY/) took the puck, passed it to Nick Fea (Oak Ridge, NJ/) for a one-touch pass to Phil Erickson (Eau Claire, WI/) who buried the one-timer with ten seconds left as Wilkes exited the ice with a 4-3 lead.
Two minutes and 32 second into the third, Manhattanville was called for a hooking minor and on the resulting power-play Barrow found the net with an assist from Tyson Araujo (Oak Bluffs, MA/) to increase the lead to 5-3.
Araujo added a score of his own at 10:57 in the third assisted by Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ/) as the Colonels led 6-3 halfway through the final period.
The Valiants would not go quietly as they cut the lead to two with a breakaway goal at 12:32 in the third.
Manhattanville pulled its goalie at 17:21, and 22 seconds later Godfrey deposited an empty-net goal assisted by Bommarito as Wilkes retook a three-goal advantage at 7-4.
Following a Colonels interference penalty at 19:05, the Valiants finished the scoring with a goal with their net empty and on the power play at 19:34.
Michael Paterson-Jones (Baldwinsville, NY) improved to 7-0 making 22 saves in the victory while Mac Vail made 20 saves in the crease for Manhattanville.
Cimilluca finished plus-three for Wilkes while Godfrey, Fea, Bommarito, and Scott Mueller (Mount Juliet, TN/) all finished plus-two.
The Colonels return to action on Saturday when they travel to Neumann University for a 5:00 p.m. UCHC contest.
