WILKES-BARRE – Visiting Utica College broke open a 1-1 game midway through the first period scoring eight unanswered goals over the rest of the contest on way to a 9-1 United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) victory over host Wilkes University Friday night at the Toyota SportsPlex.
 
Wilkes dropped to 0-5 overall on the year and 0-5 in UCHC games while Utica improved to 4-5 overall and 3-4 in league contests.
 
After Utica opened the game with a goal at the 6:16 mark, Wilkes responded tying the game two minutes later when Rachel Morey (Buffalo, WY) buried a shot past the Pioneers goalie thanks to a pass from Abigail Barcless (Hamilton, NJ).
 
Utica answered back with three more goals in the first taking a 4-1 advantage to the intermission.
 
The lead grew to 7-1 after two periods as the Pioneers added three more even strength tallies before closing out the final period with two more goals, one being on the power play.
 
Addy Olson (Naples, FL) finished with 37 saves in net for Wilkes playing all 60 minutes in net.
 
The two teams conclude their season series tomorrow (Saturday) when they meet in Utica, N.Y. for a 5:00 p.m. matchup.