ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team continued its solid run of play on Friday night, taking home a huge victory over United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) leader Utica College by a score of 4-3.
 
Thomas Mansbridge (1g, 1a) and Connor Annett (2 a) paced the Neumann offense on the evening with two points apiece. The Knights also received goals from Clay Boyd, Zac Boyle and Dan Cangelosi, while Mike Cosentino continued his excellent play in goal with 36 saves.
 
After suffering an 8-1 loss at league-leading Utica to open its UCHC slate back in November, the Knights knew they would need to be at their best in the home rematch. Neumann got just the start it was looking for early in the contest. Just 1:33 into play, Boyd streaked down the right wing and saw his centering pass deflect off a Pioneer defender's stick and into the net to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead.
 
Two Neumann penalties directly after the goal allowed Utica a chance to get back into the game, but outstanding penalty killing and spectacular goaltending from Cosentino on the 5-on-3 power play kept the Pioneers off the board. Using momentum from the kill, the Knights then doubled their lead at 9:53. Cangelosi cut into the slot from the left boards and wired home a shot over the Utica goalie's shoulder to make it 2-0 Knights after one period of play. Annett picked up helpers on both goals in the opening 20 minutes of play.
 
Neumann again found itself on the defensive to start the second stanza, as a five minute major penalty hemmed the Knights in their own end for much of opening half of the period. The hosts continued their excellent penalty-killing, drawing a penalty on Utica to momentarily even play up, but the Pioneers scored during the ensuing 4-on-4 to cut Neumann's lead in half. The Knights did not take long to respond though, fighting back with a goal of their own just 2:23 later to regain the two goal margin. Joe Mitchell found Boyle alone in the slot on the power play and the sophomore forward rifled a puck under the bar and off the twine to give Neumann a 3-1 lead headed to the third.
 
The Knights did an excellent job of killing off the game early in the final frame, but Utica began to find its way back into the game late in the period. After killing off a Neumann power play, the Pioneers scored with 6:44 left to play to make it 3-2. Utica then capitalized on a late Neumann bench minor for too many men on the ice, scoring on the man advantage to knot the contest up at three apiece with just 1:56 remaining in regulation. With the game looking like it was heading to overtime, the Knights found their winner via Mansbridge. With just 15 seconds left to go in the game, the junior forward deflected a Richie Brusco shot from the side boards to seal the 4-3 win for Neumann and give the team its first regulation UCHC win of the season.
 
Neumann (2-12-3, 1-6-3 UCHC) will look to make it four games unbeaten tomorrow when it plays host to Nazareth College in another pivotal UCHC contest. Puck-drop is scheduled for 4:00 PM.