WILKES-BARRE – The No. 9 Wilkes University men's ice hockey team jumped out to a 4-0 lead just 1:31 into the second period on way to a 6-3 United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) victory over Chatham University Friday evening at the Toyota SportsPlex.

With the home victory Wilkes improved to 17-4-1 overall and to 14-2-1 in the UCHC as the Colonels have clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming UCHC tournament. Chatham dropped to 8-12-2 overall and to 7-8-2 in the conference.

Jay Gallagher (Reading, MA/) started the scoring 9:02 into the first period as he found the back of the net after his initial shot was stopped on the power play. Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe, CA/) and Taylor Brierley (East Grand Forks, MN) picked up assists on the goal. The Colonels added a second first period goal when Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ/) scored with 59 seconds left with assists from Dill and Nick Fea (Oak Ridge, NJ/). Michael Paterson-Jones (Baldwinsville, NY/) stopped all 14 shots he faced in the first period.

The Colonels wasted little time adding to their lead in the second period as Devon Schell (Scarsdale, NY/) got one past Ricardo Gonzalez just 13 seconds into the frame with assists from Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY/Saint Anthony's) and Phil Erickson (Eau Claire, WI/). Wilkes made it 4-0 with 1:31 gone in the second when Jimmy O'Kane (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame Prep) put away a nice feed from behind the net by Nick Godfrey (Cedar Run, NJ/). Brierley picked up the second assist on the play and the goal forced the Cougars into a goaltender change as Gonzalez exited with nine saves.

The Cougars began to gain momentum and paid it off with goals 9:44 and 15:29 into the second period to make the score 4-2.

O'Kane then put away his second of the game on the power play with a nice redirection from the right of goal off a Flynn pass as the Colonels went ahead 5-2 with 18:31 gone in the third. Barrow picked up the second assist.

Wilkes made it 6-2 with 8:08 gone in the third as Cole Jungwirth (Bloomington, MN) scored following a beautiful passing play with Barrow as Flynn got the play started.

Chatham would add a goal 9:36 into the third to make it 6-3 but the Colonels were able to cruise the final 10 minutes to take the conference win.

Wilkes finished 2-for-4 on the power play while Chatham was 0-for-5. The Cougars held the shots on goal advantage 41-33 and the Colonels won the faceoff battle 34-28.

Paterson-Jones was strong as he recorded a career high of 38 saves in the victory. Thomson Phinney recorded 18 saves in relief duty for Chatham.

Flynn had a three-point game with a goal and two assists while Barrow also had a three-point night with three assists.

Wilkes returns to home ice tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. as the Colonels will host Stevenson University for the final regular season game of the season with the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) title on the line. A Senior Night ceremony will start the night at 6:00 p.m. as Wilkes Athletics recognizes its 16 seniors.