WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Wilkes University men's ice hockey squad hosted the Chatham Cougars in a United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) showdown in the UCHC Tournament semifinals with a trip to the finals on the line.
The Colonels (20-4-1), ranked ninth in the latest USCHO.com poll, allowed the first goal to the Cougars (10-13-2) before rattling off five unanswered in two periods to clinch their second UCHC finals bid in program history in 5-1 fashion.
The Cougars struck first with a shot into the upper right corner of the net at 2:35, but the Colonels offense went to work shortly thereafter. Phil Erickson got help from Tyler Barrow and Devon Schell to tie the game up 1-1 at 4:35, before Ben Stefanini took advantage of the Cougars goaltender not icing the puck to put home a close range goal with help from Nick Godfrey and Scott Mueller.
The Navy and Gold capitalized on a power play carried over from the first period just 28 seconds into the second period with a goal from Tyson Araujo, assisted by Nick Fea and Michael Gurska. Taylor Brierley took advantage of a Jimmy O'Kane pass from the left wall of the offensive zone to blast goal four in at 7:06 with Godfrey as the second assist. Donald Flynn put the bow on the dominant affair at 18:30 with a power play goal assisted by Barrow and Fea.
Michael Paterson-Jones shut down the Cougars offense with 34 saves in a one-goal victory. Five different Colonels scored and 12 Colonels recorded points in a team effort.
The Colonels will wait to see the result of top-seeded Utica versus six-seeded Manhattanville tonight to see who they will play in the finals. The Colonels are 0-1-1 against Utica and 2-0 against Manhattanville, and would travel to Utica next Saturday with a Pioneers win or host Manhattanville with a Valiants win.