WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Wilkes University Colonels men's ice hockey program started their 2022 postseason by hosting the Neumann University Knights Wednesday evening for a United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) quarterfinal bout.
 
The Colonels (19-4-1), ranked ninth in the latest USCHO.com poll, staved off a four-goal second period from the Knights (7-17-1) with six different goal scorers to take home a 7-4 victory and advance to the UCHC semifinals.
 
The Navy and Gold scored a trio of goals in the first, with senior Nick Fea (Oak Ridge, NJ/) being assisted by seniors Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ/) and Tyson Araujo (Vineyard Haven, MA) to go up 1-0 at 13:19.  Senior Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY/Saint Anthony's) made it 2-0 in a hurry at 14:23 with help from seniors Michael Gurska (Revere, MA/) and Phil Erickson (Eau Claire, WI/), before Erickson wrapped up the scoring in the first at 17:18 with assists from Flynn and graduate Taylor Brierley (East Grand Forks, MN).
 
The Colonels started off the second period with a second power play goal, with senior Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe, CA/) getting help from Brierley and senior Dylan Kuipers (Andover, NJ/) at 2:31.  Dionne Demke scored twice for the Knights at 4:27 and 9:46 to keep them in the game, but the Colonels replied with two of their own.  Fea struck first at 13:15 with help from Flynn on a play that saw the Neumann goaltender knock his own net off, that turned out to be the eventual game-winner. Then senior Ben Stefanini (Framingham, MA/) got help from junior Nick Godfrey (Cedar Run, NJ/) and senior Ryan Galvin (Atlanta, GA/) at 14:38. The Knights swung momentum in their favor, however, with a pair of quick goals to close the period.  They struck at even strength at 18:48 before the Colonels got themselves stuck in a 3-on-5 scenario that saw them score again at 19:56.3 in the period.
 
The Navy and Gold steadied themselves in the locker room, and junior Michael Paterson-Jones (Baldwinsville, NY/) came on for senior Nico Pidro (Cannonsburg, PA/).  The penalty kill unit prevented the Knights from taking advantage of almost a minute of penalty time to start the frame and locked them down twice more before Araujo put home the sealing goal on a power play at 14:01 with help from Fea and Barrow.  The Knights went empty net with just under three minutes to play, but a costly penalty at 17:43 effectively ended any hope of a Neumann comeback.
 
The Colonels won the faceoff battle 40-32 but were barely outshot 39-38 by the Knights.  Pidro and Paterson-Jones combined for 35 saves in victory, with Paterson-Jones shutting out the Knights in net.  The Colonels defense recorded 15 blocked shots, while the two squads combined for 15 penalties in a chippy affair.
 
With the Colonels victory and a victory by sixth-seed Manhattanville over third-seed Stevenson, the Navy and Gold will host fourth-seeded Chatham Saturday at the Toyota SportsPlex for a UCHC semifinal battle while top seed Utica hosts the lowest seed remaining in the Valiants.  First puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Saturday in a continuation of a season series the Colonels swept by a combined margin of 10-5 in the two games.