WILKES-BARRE – The No. 13 Wilkes University Colonels men's ice hockey squad welcomed the Neumann Knights to the Toyota SportsPlex for their last regular season home matchup, a United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) affair.
 
The Colonels (17-5, 13-2 UCHC) cruised to a 6-2 victory, thanks to a hat trick and a pair of assists from junior forward Tyson Araujo (Oak Bluffs, MA/), over the Knights (8-15, 7-9 UCHC).
 
After shutting down an early Knights power play with no shots allowed on goal, Wilkes got to work.  Sophomore forward Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ/) struck with goals at 9:44 (assisted by Araujo and sophomore defender Michael Gurska (Revere, MA/)) and 12:57 (with help from sophomore forward Nick Fea (Oak Ridge, NJ/) and Araujo) to put the Knights in an early hole.  Araujo punched home the eventual game winner in the waning seconds of the first period, with help from Fea and Flynn at the 19:38 mark.
 
Neumann struck twice unanswered in the second period, with one of the goals coming on a 5-on-3 power play.  Araujo made it 4-2 at 9:16 12 seconds into a power play with assists from Fea and Gurska.  Sophomore forward Phil Erickson (Eau Claire, WI/) gave the Colonels a three-goal lead back at 15:37, with sophomore forward Danny Reidel (Wayne, NJ) and freshman forward Billy Berry (Redding, CT) assisting.
 
Araujo once again struck in the closing seconds of a period, scoring at 19:26 with Fea and Gurska assisting.  The goal closed the scoring for the day and gave Araujo a hat trick and his fifth point. 
 
Araujo and Flynn both went +4 in the victory, which saw the Colonels outshoot the Knights 33-30 and nudge them out in the faceoff battle 34-32.  Freshman goaltender Michael Paterson-Jones (Baldwinsville, NY) had 28 saves in 60 minutes, while Neumann's freshman goalkeeper Tyler Roy had 27 saves in only his third start.
 
The Colonels conclude their regular season with a three-game road trip against conference foes.  They start with a trip out to Rye, N.Y. to play against former Middle Atlantic Conference rival Manhattanville tomorrow.  The puck will drop at 3:30 p.m., where the Colonels will look for their second victory in the series on the season after a 7-5 victory at home.