Four Different Colonels Score As Wilkes Men's Ice Hockey Wins Over Arcadia
WILKES-BARRE – The Colonels saw four different players score for them while having a strong defensive night as the Wilkes University men's ice hockey team earned a 4-1 victory over Arcadia University in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) and Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) action on Friday night at the Toyota SportsPlex.
Wilkes improves to 7-7-1 on the year, 5-5 in UCHC play, and 3-1 in MAC action. The Knights fall to 3-9-2 overall, 3-6-2 in the UCHC, and 2-1-2 in the MAC. Both Wilkes and Arcadia have 9 points in the MAC standings.
The first period started off quick for the Colonels as they got two power plays within the first 10 minutes of the game, capitalizing on the second one at the 9:28 mark when Jimmy O'Kane (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame Prep) took his shot near the top of the goal as he took a pass from Ben Stefanini (Framingham, MA) and Cam Lowe (Lancaster, MA) to get Wilkes up 1-0 in the first period. Wilkes would hold strong throughout this period and majority of the game, only allowing the Knights 23 shots on goal throughout the contest.
The second period was more of the same as the defensive duo of Steven Spetz (Oak Ridge, NJ) and Cole Jungwirth (Bloomington, MN), along with Joe Johnson (Midland, MI), Mason Vonk (West Olive, MI), Scott Mueller (Nashville, TN), and Luke Dobles (Spencerport, NY), held Arcadia to eight shots in the second and third period. Wilkes would keep their offensive attack going, shooting 17 shots in the second period. Phil Erickson (Eau Claire, WI) would get his shot into the back of the net at the 7:19 mark as Vonk and Johnson would find him near the front of the goal as the Colonels would go up 2-0 over Arcadia. Before the break for the third period, Arcadia would get a penalty with under 30 seconds to play, giving Wilkes a power play to start the final period.
The Colonels would waste little time to capitalize on the early advantage as Stefanini would take his shot near the middle of Arcadia's side of the ice 24 seconds into the third period as Wilkes would be up 3-0. Arcadia would begin to take shots and try to get opportunities on power plays, but the Colonels would hold their own as Garrett Nieto (Yorba Linda, CA) would get five saves in the first 10 minutes of the period. Eventually, after a fight over the puck and the Knights knocking it out to the ice, Matt Carlson (Delmar, NY) would take his opportunity and head to Arcadia's goal, taking his shot and finding the back of the net to give himself a goal and put the Colonels up 4-0 at the 10:38 mark.
The Knights would eventually stop the shutout at the 13:47 mark when Donnie Feldman scored, but the Colonels would hold on throughout the rest of the period and hold onto the 4-1 conference victory in the UCHC and MAC.
O'Kane, Erickson, Stefanini, and Carlson all scored for the Colonels in their victory. O'Kane, Stefanini, and Erickson added an assist on the night along with Johnson, Vonk, and Lowe. Dobles lead Wilkes with three blocks on the night, with Stefanini, Johnson, and Vonk having two apiece. O'Kane won 10-of-15 faceoffs against Arcadia, while Max Cocchi (Ludlow, MA) went 6-14, Carlson was 6-12, and Billy Berry (Redding, CT) won five of his 14 on the night. Nieto had 22 total saves on the night.
Wilkes will look to finish their two-game stretch against Arcadia as they travel on the road on Saturday to face the Knights at Hatfield Ice Arena at 7:00 p.m. in UCHC and MAC action.
