Men's Ice Hockey Opens Season with 3-2 Win over Utica
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's ice hockey team kicked-off its long-awaited 2021 season in thrilling fashion, taking down defending champion Utica College 3-2 in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action at the Toyota SportsPlex on Friday evening.
The Colonels improved to 1-0 overall and in conference with the win while Utica fell to 0-1. This is the Colonels first victory over the Pioneers, who defeated Wilkes in the UCHC Championship Series last March.
Utica got off to the fast start, controlling the puck through the first six minutes as it outshot the Colonels 11-2.
However, the Colonels opened the scoring at 18:47 of the first period on a goal from Phil Erickson (Eau Claire, WI) assisted by Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ).
Play was even for most of the second period before John Moncovich tied the score at 16:08 for the Pioneers with helpers from Conor Landrigan and Blake Holmes.
Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe, CA) gave Wilkes the lead at 5:12 of the third on an assist from Dylan Kuipers (Andover, NJ).
The Colonels gained two five-on-three opportunities as Utica was assessed four consecutive penalties, but Wilkes was able to salvage the opportunities when Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY) scored unassisted on the final power-play of the four penalties to extend the Colonels lead to 3-1 with 8:52 remaining in the game.
Following a five-minute major and game misconduct on the Pioneers, Utica punched home a short-handed goal at 13:17 of the third by Nick Yzaguirre assisted by Jamie Bucell, but Wilkes was able to shut them down the rest of the way to secure the victory.
Michael Paterson-Jones (Baldwinsville, NY) stopped 26-of-28 shots to earn the victory. Sean Dickson made 21 saves on 24 shots in the crease for the Pioneers.
Devon Schell (Scarsdale, NY) won 14-of-19 face-offs to help the Colonels finish above 50 percent.
Wilkes and Utica finish its respective season series tomorrow when the two teams face off at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
