WILKES-BARRE – In a battle of two ranked teams, the No. 10 Wilkes University men's ice hockey team fell 3-2 to No. 13 Cortland State Monday night in non-conference action at the Toyota SportsPlex.
 
Wilkes slipped to 9-3 overall following just its second home defeat this season. Cortland improved to 8-3 overall following the road victory.
 
Cortland took the early lead thanks to a goal from Sam Christiano 7:12 into the first period. Justin Legault made it 2-0 Cortland when he found the back of the net just over a minutes later.
 
Cam Lowe (Lancaster, MA) took things into his own hands when he skated down the left side and into goal only to deposit the puck past the Red Dragons goaltender to cut the lead in half at 13:25 of the first period. Cole Jungwirth (Bloomington, MN) and Max Cocchi (Ludlow, MA) setup Lowe on his way to the net. It marked the 50^th career assist for Jungwirth.
 
After a scoreless second period, Andrew Clouden gave the visitors a two-goal advantage when he scored at 8:56 of the third period. With under six minutes remaining, Patrick Roginski (Shelby Twp., MI) took a pass from Carter Jordan (Fort Collins, CO) in front of the net and fired high right side to make it 3-2.
 
Wilkes pulled its goalie over the final 1:30 but was unable to find the equalizer as Cortland escaped with the one-goal victory.
 
Cortland held a 66-48 shot advantage including 37 coming on goal. Wilkes goalie Jack Perna (Sykesville, MD) finished with 34 saves in the loss. Cortland netminder Ronan Mobley made 29 stops to record the win in goal.
 
Wilkes continues its non-conference slate this weekend when the Colonels participate in the Comfort Inn Complex Winter Classic hosted by Plattsburgh State on Saturday and Sunday. Wilkes will open the tournament against University of New England on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The consolation and championship games are set for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. respectively. Host Plattsburgh takes on Wentworth in the other matchup on Saturday.