WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes University men's ice hockey team fell to SUNY Cortland in their home opener, falling 6-3 on Saturday night.
The Red Dragons opened the night with a goal 16:27 into the first period with a power-play goal. Despite the Colonels holding a 20-13 shot advantage on the Red Dragons, Wilkes was unable to find the back of the net in the first period.
Cortland kept their momentum going into the second period, slipping the puck past Wilkes' goaltender for a 2-0 lead. Five minutes later, the Red Dragons struck again taking a dominant 3-0 lead. The Colonels were not deterred from Cortland's scoring freight as
Cam Perez (West Hartford, CT) found
Easton Stafford (Broomfield, CO/Colorado Connections Academy), who scored the Colonels' first goal of the night, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Just 39 seconds into the third period, Cortland added another goal onto the board and followed it with a fifth goal, tallying a 5-1 lead. Wilkes' great effort was finally rewarded when
Bryan Weissler (Floral Park, NY/) slipped the puck behind Cortland's goaltender.
Daniel Nau (Wake Forest, NC/) added another goal shortly afterwards to bring the Colonels within two. However, Cortland responded with another goal to seal the 6-3 victory.
Cortland outshot Wilkes 39-23 and had a slight edge in winning faceoffs 43-42. Individually,
Bryan Weissler (Floral Park, NY/) led the team in 6 shots and scored one goal on the night. Goaltender
Duncan Rolleman (New Hamburg, ON/) made 14 saves on the night, completing the game with a .875 save percentage. Jefferey Fillion also completed 19 saves with a .826 save percentage. Cortland's Nolan Suggs completed 20 saves on the night, finishing with a .870 save percentage.
The Colonels return to the ice on Friday, November 6 against Alvernia University for a 3 p.m. puck drop.
