Wilkes Men's Ice Hockey Defeats RV Nazareth College
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Wilkes men's ice hockey team took down the Nazareth College Golden Flyers, who are receiving votes in the national poll, 2-1 on Friday night during United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) play.
The Colonels improve to 11-7-1 overall and 9-5-0 in conference play. The Golden Flyers move to 11-7-2 on the season and 9-5-1 in UCHC play.
Wilkes was first to strike in the first period, and also kept Nazareth from the goal. At 16:47 into the period Max Cocchi (Ludlow, MA) was able to find the back of the net, with an assist from Judson McGrath (Dallas, TX). The Colonels had nine shots in the first period, led by Cocchi with four. Goalkeeper Garret Nieto tallied 12 saves in the period.
Nazareth had 12 shots in the first period, and goalkeeper Raphael Provencher had eight saves.
Just two minutes into the second period, Nazareth evened the score with a goal from Logan Tobias. Wilkes answered back to take the lead with less than 30 seconds left in the period at 19:34, with a goal from Christian Blomquist (Wauwatosa, WI). He was assisted by Cole Jungwirth (Bloomington, MN). The Colonels had nine shots in the period, led by Cocchi and Jimmy O'Kane (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame Prep), each having two. Nieto added 16 saves in the second period.
The Golden Flyers had 17 shots in the second period and Provencher added eight saves.
The third period was scoreless for both teams, leading the Colonels to their 2-1 victory over Nazareth College. Wilkes had four shots in the third period and Nieto added nine more saves in the period.
Wilkes had 22 total shots in the game led by Cocchi with six, followed by Joe Johnson (Midland, MI) and Scott Mueller (Nashville, TN) each with three. Nazareth had 38 total shots in the game. Both teams were 0-4 on power-plays.
Goalkeeper Nieto had a total of 37 saves in the game for the Colonels, tying his season high. Provencher had a total of 20 saves in the game for the Golden Flyers.
The Colonels won 20 of 56 faceoffs with Matt Carlson (Delmar, NY) winning eight, O'Kane winning seven, Cocchi winning four, and Billy Berry (Redding, CT) winning one. The Golden Flyers won 36 of 56 faceoffs.
The Wilkes men's ice hockey team returns to action tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. where they look to sweep their UCHC weekend series against Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y.
