RYE, N.Y. – A late second-period surge by the visiting Wilkes doomed the Manhattanville College men's hockey team on Friday night, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Colonels at the Playland Ice Casino. The Valiants drop to 2-3-0 on the year with the loss and now stand 2-1-0 in UCHC action.

Wilkes scored three times in the final 3:41 of the second period, including twice in the final minute, to erase Manhatanville's 2-0 lead and stayed in front for the remainder of play.

Artem Mateichenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/New Hampshire Avalanche (EHL)) provided the lone offense in the first period, burying a feed from Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL)) at the 12:09 mark to give the home team a 1-0 advantage. Wilkes fired 11 shots on net in the opening period but Sebastian Woods (Limehouse, Ontario, Canada/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) denied all of them to preserve the one goal advantage.

In the second, Tristan D'Elia (West Chester, Pa./Philadelphia Little Flyers (EHL)) doubled the Valiants' advantage at the 4:02 mark, finishing off a pass from Tristan Frese (Broomfield, CO/Jersey Hitmen (NCDC)) to put the home team up by a pair. The Colonels, however, did not shy away facing the deficit as they would fire another 14 shots in the period. Wilkes ultimately broke through at 16:19 via Matt Carlson. The late goal was a momentum shift, as the Colonels maintained pressure over the final three-plus minutes of the period. The result was goals by Cam Lowe and Nick Swain with under a minute remaining in the period, completely flipping the game heading into the third period.

Finding themselves behind for the first time all night, the Valiants generated the majority of their offensive opportunities in the third with 10 shots on net. Jack Perna stood tall in the face of the attack, finishing the night with 21 total stops to preserve the victory for Wilkes.

Woods finished with 26 total saves, making 11 in each of the first two periods. Through five games, the sophomore holds a 2.78 goals-against average with an .899 save percentage.

Manhattanville trailed in the faceoff department, 24-30. Caden Eaton (Indian River, Mich./Cornwall Colts (CCHL)) won a team-high 10 draws for the Vals.

Neither team's power play units got many opportunities, with Wilkes going 0-for-1 while the Valiants finished 0-for-3 with a total of 3:39 ice time with the extra skater.

Up Next
The teams conclude the weekend series tomorrow with a 4:30 p.m. puck drop.

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