WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Wilkes University men's ice hockey squad hosted the Chatham Cougars in a United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) showdown in the UCHC Tournament semifinals with a trip to the finals on the line.
 
The Colonels (20-4-1), ranked ninth in the latest USCHO.com poll,  allowed the first goal to the Cougars (10-13-2) before rattling off five unanswered in two periods to clinch their second UCHC finals bid in program history in 5-1 fashion.
 
The Cougars struck first with a shot into the upper right corner of the net at 2:35, but the Colonels offense went to work shortly thereafter.  Phil Erickson (Eau Claire, WI/) got help from Tyler Barrow (Massapequa, NY/Saint Anthony's) and Devon Schell (Scarsdale, NY/) to tie the game up 1-1 at 4:35, before Ben Stefanini (Framingham, MA/) took advantage of the Cougars goaltender not icing the puck to put home a close range goal with help from Nick Godfrey (Cedar Run, NJ/) and Scott Mueller (Mount Juliet, TN/). 
 
The Navy and Gold capitalized on a power play carried over from the first period just 28 seconds into the second period with a goal from Tyson Araujo (Vineyard Haven, MA), assisted by Nick Fea (Oak Ridge, NJ/) and Michael Gurska (Revere, MA/).  Taylor Brierley (East Grand Forks, MN) took advantage of a Jimmy O'Kane (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame Prep) pass from the left wall of the offensive zone to blast goal four in at 7:06 with Godfrey as the second assist.  Donald Flynn (Randolph, NJ/) put the bow on the dominant affair at 18:30 with a power play goal assisted by Barrow and Fea.
 
Michael Paterson-Jones (Baldwinsville, NY/) shut down the Cougars offense with 34 saves in a one-goal victory.  Five different Colonels scored and 12 Colonels recorded points in a team effort. 
 
The Colonels will wait to see the result of top-seeded Utica versus six-seeded Manhattanville tonight to see who they will play in the finals.  The Colonels are 0-1-1 against Utica and 2-0 against Manhattanville, and would travel to Utica next Saturday with a Pioneers win or host Manhattanville with a Valiants win.