WILKES-BARRE – The No. 9 Wilkes University men's ice hockey team is set to host No. 2 Utica College in a top ten United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) matchup Saturday at 5:00 p.m. at the Toyota SportsPlex.
 
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Wilkes enters the game with a 16-4 overall record, standing 13-2 in UCHC games, trailing only first-place Utica in the conference standings. The Colonels have won 16-plus games for the third time in the program's four years of existence. Utica stands 20-2 overall and a perfect 15-0 in UCHC action, its two losses coming against top-five ranked teams in Adrian College and SUNY Geneseo.
 
The two teams stand in the top two of the conference in almost every statistical category including goals scored, goals allowed, shots, assists and points. Utica has scored 116 total goals while Wilkes has netted 101. Utica also has the lowest amount of goals allowed with 26 while Wilkes stands second in the league with 47.
 
Utica boasts the top two point-scorers in the league with Regen Cavanagh and Buster Larsson posting 32 and 31 points respectively. Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY/Saint Anthony's) tops the Colonels with 30 points on 12 goals and 18 assists. Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ/) is the other Colonel in the top ten totaling 29 points on seven goals and a conference-leading 22 assists.
 
In goal, Nico Pidro (Cannonsburg, PA/) has anchored the Wilkes defense with a 1.52 goals against average making 164 saves in 11 games played. Utica's Sean Dickson is equally as impressive boasting a 1.18 GAA with 199 saves in 13 games in net.
 
Wilkes concludes its UCHC slate with games against Chatham University on February 18 and Stevenson University on February 20 before final seeding will be set for the UCHC Championship Tournament.