READING, PA – The Wilkes University men's ice hockey team tied a team record by scoring nine goals for the seventh time in program history and second time this season in a 9-1 United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) victory at Alvernia University Saturday night. Nick Swain and Cam Lowe became just the sixth and seventh players in team history to record at least a five-point game as each finished the night with five points.
Lowe tied the program record with four assists that had been set 12 times before. He added one goal for his five total points. Swain, the UCHC's leading goal scorer, added two goals to his tally and three assists.
Wilkes won its fifth straight game and moved to 9-3-0 overall and remain atop the UCHC standings at 7-2-0 and with 20 points. Alvernia dropped to 6-4-1 overall and to 5-4-0 with 15 points in the league.
The Colonels grabbed a 1-0 lead at the 10:30 mark of the first period as Miles Harrington found the back of the net for his third goal of the season. Assists went to Matt Carlson and Lowe as Carlson dished the puck to Lowe inside the Golden Wolves blue line and then got the return pass back before finding Harrington open in front.
Wilkes made it 2-0 at the 16:16 mark of the first as Jimmy O'Kane jammed the puck in following a shot by Swain. Max Cocchi picked up the secondary assist on O'Kane's third of the year.
The Colonels offense kept up the scoring in the second period as Billy Berry lasered a shot past the goaltender 2:57 in to make it 3-0 for a power play goal. Lowe and Cole Jungwirth picked up assists on Berry's seventh of the season.
The power play struck again as Lowe scored off a feed from Swain in the corner to make it 4-0 with 9:11 left in the second. Patrick Roginski picked up the secondary helper on Lowe's fourth of the year.
Wilkes added its third goal of the second period to make it 5-0 as Swain collected his 11th of the season with a backhanded goal. Nate Terski picked up the assist as he kept the puck in nicely at the blue line with his glove and played a pass to the corner that Swain picked up with 1:32 remaining in the frame.
The Golden Wolves got on the scoreboard with 41 seconds remaining in the second to make it 5-1 and that's the lead the Colonels took into the second intermission.
The Colonels' power play picked up where it left off in the second period as Jungwirth netted his third goal of the season at the 2:07 into the period to make it 6-1. Berry and Swain assisted the shot that Jungwirth took from the middle of the ice near the blue line and through a lot of traffic.
Just 27 seconds later Carter Jordan netted his first career goal off a feed from Christian Blomquist and Jungwirth to make it 7-1.
Harrington added his second of the game with 5:36 remaining to make it 8-1 off assists from Lowe and Joe Johnson.
The power play added its fourth goal of the game, to tie the program record for a single game, as Swain scored for the second time of the night with assists coming from Lowe and Berry with 28 seconds left.
The Wilkes power play was 4-for-8 while Alvernia went 0-for-4. The Golden Wolves held a 38-34 edge in shots on goal, but Wilkes dominated in the faceoff circle winning 45-of-71. Berry was 13-for-21, Carlson was 12-for-17, and Jordan was 10-for-16.
Michael Paterson-Jones made 37 saves while only allowing one goal as he picked up his fifth win in a row. He now has 45 career wins.
Jacob Stern took the loss as he made 19 saves and allowed seven goals. Ian Graiff made six saves and allowed two goals in relief of Stern.
In addition to Swain and Lowe's five-point games, Berry and Jungwirth each recorded three points with one goal and two assists. In total, 13 Colonels recorded at least one point.
The two sides finish their season series tomorrow with puck drop scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Reading, Pa.