WILKES-BARRE, PA – Ben Stefanini scored 2:14 into overtime to lift the Wilkes University men's ice hockey team to a 4-3 United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) victory over Lebanon Valley College Friday night at the Toyota SportsPlex.
 
The Colonels pushed their win streak to six straight moving to 9-7-1 overall and 7-5 in UCHC play. Lebanon Valley dropped to 2-14-2 overall and 1-11-1 in conference contests.
 
Wilkes took a 1-0 lead 15:44 into the first period when a driving shot from Patrick Roginski was saved by the Dutchmen goalie only to see Billy Berry find the rebound and deposit his fourth goal of the season in the empty net.
 
The Colonel lead grew to 2-0 early in the second period as Max Cocchi joined the scoring column notching his second goal of the season with a deflection in the front of the net off a shot from Ryan Galvin.
 
The advantage stayed at two for the next 11 minutes before Lebanon Valley began its swift comeback in the frame. First a power-play goal cut the deficit in half at the 17:56 mark, then less than a minute later Harris Blackwood skated through a defender down the right side and his wrist shot was true tying the game at two where the teams went into the second intermission.
 
Phil Erickson untied the contest when he found a loose puck in the center shooting lane and fired home his fourth goal of the season as Wilkes led 3-2 with 13:54 left in regulation. Lebanon Valley responded with 7:41 left in the third scoring on a 3-on-1 opportunity to tie the game for the second time.
 
From there it was Stefanini with the heroics scoring his team-leading tenth goal of the year to give the Colonels an important overtime conference win.
 
Garrett Nieto finished with 28 saves for Wilkes in net while Ty Franchi made 45 stops for Lebanon Valley. Wilkes held a 84-60 shot advantage while winning 40 of 71 face offs in the contest.
 
The two teams close out their regular season series tomorrow with a 5:00 p.m. matchup at the Toyota SportsPlex.