ASTON, Pa. – A five goal explosion in the third period helped the Wilkes University men's ice hockey team turn a 5-4 intermission deficit into a commanding 9-5 win in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action at Neumann University on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Colonels continued their hot play to start the season, improving to 4-0-0, 2-0-0 in league play.
 
Wilkes jumped out to a two-goal lead early in the game as Devon Schell (Scarsdale, NY/) broke through at 1:17 of the first period, assisted by Phil Erickson (Eau Claire, WI/), and Nick Fea (Oak Ridge, NJ/) doubled the lead with assists from Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY/Saint Anthony's) and Michael Gurska (Revere, MA/) at 12:15 of the first.
 
Neumann tied the score with a goal at 14:19 of the first and another at 59 seconds in the second.
 
Fea notched his second of the game at 7:32 of the second period with an assist from Tyson Araujo (Vineyard Haven, MA/) before the Knights tied the score with a goal at 9:56 of the second.
 
Neumann took a two-goal lead with tallies at 11:26 of the second and 14:02 of the same period. Schell got back into the scoring column at 16:58 of the second with assists from Joseph Johnson (Midland, MI/) and Judson McGrath (Allen, TX/) as the Colonels entered the second intermission facing a 5-4 deficit.
 
The third period was all Wilkes, however, as it lit the lamp five times in the period. Erickson tied the score at 2:59 with a helper from Schell before Taylor Brierly (East Grand Forks, MN/) scored the eventual game-winner assisted by Barrow and Schell.
 
Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ/) made his way onto the scoresheet with an unassisted goal at 10:18 of the third. Barrow collected goal number eight of the game for the Colonels at 15:48 of the third assisted by Erickson before Jack Lane (South River, NJ/) finished the scoring with an assist from Erickson.
 
Michael Paterson-Jones (Baldwinsville, NY/) earned the victory, stopping 11-of-16 shots.
 
The Colonels return to action on Friday when they travel to King's College for a 7:00 p.m. UCHC and Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) contest.