WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes men's ice hockey team picked up a crucial UCHC victory over Nazareth University 7-1 on Saturday night at the Toyota SportsPlex. The Colonels blew the doors open in the third, scoring five times to put the game out of reach.
 
Wilkes advanced to 14-6-0 overall and 12-3-0 in UCHC contests. With the loss, Nazareth fell to 4-14-2 on the season while dropping to 3-10-2 in conference games.
 
Matt Carlson (Delmar, NY/) opened the scoring for the Colonels at 7:48 of the first period. Jimmy O'Kane (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame Prep) and Chrisitan Blomquist recorded assists on Carlson's eighth of the season.
 
Neither team could find the back of the net for the remainder of the first and Wilkes exited the ice with a 1-0 lead.
 
Midway through the second period, Nazareth's Kai Shen evened the score with his first of the season. Daisuke Egusa picked up the only assist on the 1-1 marker at 10:52.
 
Carlson broke the tie just under six minutes later with his second goal of the afternoon to put Wilkes back in the lead 2-1. Joe Johnson (Midland, MI/) and Cam Lowe (Lancaster, MA/) were both credited with helpers on the play at 16:33.
 
The Colonels headed to the power play towards the beginning of the third and capitalized on the man advantage. Billy Berry (Redding, CT) notched his eleventh of the season with Lowe and Patrick Roginski (Shelby Twp., MI) snagging assists on the 3-1 goal at 1:29 of the final frame.
 
Less than two minutes later and still on the power play, O'Kane tacked on another goal to put Wilkes in firm control of the game's momentum. Cole Jungwirth (Bloomington, MN/) and Nick Swain (Jackson, NJ) recorded helpers on O'Kanes seventh of the season at 3:19.


Roginski kept the goals coming for the Colonels with his eighth of the campaign. Jungwirth and Lowe both assisted on the 5-1 marker, which also came on the man advantage at 9:03.
 
Jungwirth went on to light the lamp roughly five minutes later when he picked up a pass from Max Cocchi (Ludlow, MA/) and buried it to the back of the net. Cocchi and Lowe were awarded assists on the 6-1 goal at 14:50.
 
Cocchi put a ribbon on a fantastic offensive showing for the Colonels with a goal of his own at 17:47 of the third. O'Kane and Johnson assisted on the goal. Cocchi's 7-1 goal proved to be the final of the night as the Colonels defeated the Golden Flyers and picked up three important UCHC points.
 
Matt Carlson (Delmar, NY/) notched two goals on four shots for Wilkes while Lowe put together a four-point performance. O'Kane and Jungwirth both enjoyed three-point showings and Cocchi went 7-13 at the faceoff dot. As a team, Wilkes went an impressive 5-7 on the power play and fired 20 shots on goal during the man advantages. Luke Dobles (Spencerport, NY/) laid down the body four times to keep the puck away from goaltender Jack Perna (Sykesville, MD), who made 32 saves on 33 shots in the win.
 
Shen scored Nazareth's lone goal and tallied three shots on the night. Harrison Dumas and Ethan Louisos shared the team lead in shots with four apiece. Golden Flyer goaltender Raphael Provencher made 34 saves in net in the contest.
 
Wilkes and Nazareth finish their season series tomorrow afternoon at the Toyota SportsPlex. Puck drop against the Golden Flyers is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.