WILKES-BARRE – The No. 15 and second seeded Wilkes University men's ice hockey team is set to travel to No. 3 and top-seeded Utica College for the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Championship Series Friday and Saturday at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Puck drop for both games of the series is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased at the Auditorium Box Office or online at EmpireStateTix.com. Prices are $8 for adults and $4 for students with a valid ID.

If the series is tied after the completion of the two games a minigame will be used following game two on Saturday night to determine the champion. The minigame is one full 20 minute period. If the score is tied subsequent 20 minute sudden-death overtime periods will be played until a winner is determined. The winner of the series will advance as the UCHC representative in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Live video and live stats for those unable to attend the series are available at the link provided by the Utica College Sports Information Department.

Wilkes enters the UCHC Championship Series in only its second season of competition. The Colonels are 19-8-0 overall on the year and earned the No. 2 seed in the UCHC Tournament with a 14-4-0 regular season conference mark.
 
Wilkes defeated No. 3 seed Stevenson University in the UCHC Semifinal Series last Friday and Saturday at the Toyota SportsPlex with the use of the minigame. The Colonels beat the Mustangs 7-5 in game one on Friday but Stevenson evened the series with a 3-2 win on Saturday. Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY) netted the minigame-winner 2:56 into the first overtime period to advance the Colonels to the championship series.
 
Utica enters at 23-2-2 overall on the year and finished as the UCHC regular season champion with a 15-2-1 record in the league. The Pioneers defeated No. 5 seed Nazareth College 2-0 in their Semifinal Series with a 5-2 game one win and a 3-2 game two victory.
 
Utica took both games from Wilkes during the regular season. The two teams met back on January 17th as the No. 6 Pioneers defeated the No. 12 Colonels 8-3 at the Toyota SportsPlex. The two foes closed the conference regular season on February 22nd in Utica with No. 3 Utica defeating No. 13 Wilkes 5-1 to clinch the top-seed.
 
Scouting Wilkes
Tyler Hynes is nearing the close of his first season as head coach with a chance to earn the conference championship. Hynes was named the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Co-Coach of the Year.

The Colonels are led in scoring by sophomore forward Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ). He was named the UCHC Co-Player of the Year and a First Team All-UCHC member. He has 27 goals and 25 assists for 52 points currently. Flynn is the nation's leading goal scorer and is second in the nation in points per game at 2.08. His fourteen power play goals also lead the nation. Fellow sophomore forward Nick Fea (Oak Ridge, NJ) was selected Second Team All-UCHC this season. He led the league and is tied for second in the country with 35 assists. Fea is fourth in the country with 47 total points and ranks fifth currently with 1.74 points per game.

Barrow was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year. The sophomore is currently sixth in the UCHC with 37 points on the strength of 12 goals and 25 assists. Barrow ranks 11th in the nation with 1.48 points per game. Sophomore forwards Tyson Araujo (Oak Bluffs, MA/) and Danny Reidel (Wayne, NJ) also have had strong seasons offensively as Araujo is second on the team with 20 goals and fourth with 34 points, and Reidel is third on the team with 14 goals and sixth with 20 points.

Defensively Wilkes is led by First Team All-UCHC selection and the MAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year sophomore Michael Gurska (Revere, MA). He is second in the league and fifth in the nation with 30 total assists. Gurska's 32 total points rank tenth among all UCHC players and second among defensemen. Fellow blueliner Dylan Kuipers (Andover, NJ) was named Second Team All-MAC and leads the Colonels with a plus-18 rating. Junior defenseman Charlie Spetz (Oak Ridge, NJ) leads Wilkes with 51 blocked shots on the season.

Freshman goaltender Michael Paterson-Jones (Baldwinsville, NY) has had a standout first season with a 16-5-0 record between the pipes. He was named Second Team All-MAC and ranks fifth among UCHC goaltenders with a 2.88 goals against average and sixth with a .899 save percentage. He made several key stops in the minigame against Stevenson to keep the Colonels season alive.

Scouting Utica
Gary Heenan, in his 18th season, was named the UCHC Coach of the Year. He has led this edition of the Pioneers to a school record for wins heading into the Championship Series.

Utica is led on offense by UCHC Co-Player of the Year Conor Landrigan. He only played in 20 of the Pioneers games but had 12 goals and 26 assists for 38 points. He led the conference in points per game during UCHC play at 2.00 points per conference game as he played in 14 of the 18 contests. UCHC Rookie of the Year Brandon Osmundson currently sits as the nation's leading rookie scorer on a per game basis at 1.48 points per game. He has 40 points on twelve goals and 28 assists. Kasper Kjellkvist leads Utica with 15 goals and his fourth on the team with 30 points.

Defensively the Pioneers are led by UCHC Defensive Player of the Year Daniel Fritz. He leads the nation's defensemen in points per game at an average of 1.41 per contest. Fritz has 11 goals and 27 assists for 38 points and led the conference with a plus-41 rating. Defenseman Jacob Cuffley was named to the UCHC All-Rookie Team and fellow blueliner Vaden McManus was tied for the team lead with 19 blocked shots and was second with a plus-35 rating.

Goaltender Gianluca Baggetta was named Second Team All-UCHC after going 15-1-2 this season. He led the conference with a 2.16 goals against average and was third with a .916 save percentage.