WILKES-BARRE – Tyler Barrow buried the game-winner at 9:16 of overtime to send the Wilkes University men's ice hockey team into the United Collegiate Hockey Conference Semifinals after defeating Nazareth College by a 3-2 final from the Toyota SportsPlex on Wednesday evening.
 
The junior took a pass from Scott Mueller and skated into the offensive zone on the right side and went far post over the shoulder of Golden Flyers goaltender Raphael Provencher, sending the Colonels into a frenzy as they poured onto the ice to celebrate.
 
Wilkes improved to 7-3 with the win while Nazareth ends its season with an 0-11 record.
 
The Golden Flyers started the scoring with an off-angle shot that got past Colonels goaltender Michael Paterson-Jones by Matteo Capriotti with assists from Matt Eichelmeier and Jackson Shanley at 6:03 of the first period.
 
Tyler Dill tied the score at 15:31 of the first with helpers from Nick Fea and Ryan Solomon.
 
Nazareth took advantage of a Wilkes slashing penalty, cashing in on a power-play opportunity with a goal from Ray Falso assisted by Carmine Alberga.
 
The Colonels found themselves starting the third with two minutes of four-on-four and a three-minute penalty kill following a five-minute major and game misconduct at the end of the second.
 
Shortly after the penalty expired, Dill found the back of the net for the second time on the power-play with assists from Donald Flynn and Billy Berry after the Golden Flyers were called for a two-minute minor for elbowing. Both teams had opportunities as regulation wound down but the clock hit zeros with the score still locked at two, sending the teams into sudden-death 20-minute overtime, leading to Barrow's heroics.
 
Both goaltenders were excellent as Paterson-Jones stopped 22-of-24 shots while Provencher made 44 saves on 47 shots.
 
The Colonels had the advantage in the playoff circle, winning 43 of 77 draws, led by a 12-of-15 performance by Joey Pasquini.
 
Wilkes now awaits the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 2 Stevenson and No. 6 Neumann, who play on Thursday after the Wednesday game was postponed due to mechanical issues at the Mustang's home rink, with the semifinals taking place Friday with the time and location to be determined.