ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team took home a 4-1 road victory in the first round of the ECAC West playoffs versus Nazareth College on Wednesday evening.

Neumann received balanced scoring as four Knights lit the lamp in the win. Zac Lazzaro, Nick Perruccio, Joe Mitchell and Liam Board all tallied for Neumann. The Knights also received outstanding goaltending from freshman net-minder Anthony Pupplo, who made 44 saves on 45 shots.

The Knights would come out fast, scoring just 1:24 into the game. Lazzaro would take a feed from Shayne Morrissey, dance around the Nazareth goaltender and tuck in his fifth goal of the season to put Neumann out in front. The lead would not last long though, as Nazareth responded back four minutes later to knot the game up at 1-1. Both teams would have chances to take the lead late in the first, but each goalie made nice saves to keep the game tied headed I the second stanza.

The second period saw the Knights take control of the game. Neumann registered the period's first eight shots and would break the 1-1 deadlock with a goal at the 3:54 mark of the period. Shane Topf and Perruccio broke into the Nazareth end on a two-on-one and Perruccio would finish off a perfect pass from Topf to give the Knights their second lead of the game. Neumann carried momentum from the goal throughout the period, outshooting the Golden Eagles by a count of 21-10 in the frame. Late in the stanza, the Knights relentless pressure in the Nazareth end would result in a third goal. The play would start with great work along the wall from Collin O'Neil and Ryan Luiten. Luiten cycled a puck down low to O'Neil, who found a wide open Mitchell in the slot. Mitchell then rifled the puck high past the Nazareth goalie's glove and into the net to give the Knights a two goal lead as the game moved into the third period.

Nazareth would attempt to make a comeback in the third, but a stifling Neumann defense kept the Golden Eagles off the board. The Knights penalty kill came up big, shutting down two Nazareth power plays in the final frame to maintain the two goal lead. Pupplo was also fantastic in the period, stopping all 21 shots he faced. As time ticked down in the final minutes of play, Board tallied an empty netter to seal the 4-1 win and help the Knights advance to the ECAC West semifinals.

Neumann (16-7-3) moves on to face top seeded Utica College this Saturday, February 25th in the ECAC West semifinals. Puck-drop for the semifinal matchup is scheduled for 7:00 PM at Utica.