ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team opened up its 2019-20 season at home on Friday evening, dropping a United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) matchup to visiting Nazareth College by a score of 8-3.
 
Zac Boyle paced the Knights with a pair of goals on the evening, while Barry Kneedler also scored for the hosts. Mike Cosentino and Kyle Pantelone split time in goal in the loss, combining for 28 saves.
 
Nazareth came out strong from the start, outshooting the Knights by a count of 14-4 in the first frame on its way to an early lead. The Golden Flyers broke the ice 4:07 into the contest, then added two more power play goals later in the period to take a comfortable 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
 
Things got worse for Neumann in second stanza, as the visitors continued to buzz. Nazareth added a fourth goal at the 5:04 mark, then blew the game wide open with a fifth tally at 11:25 to make it 5-0. The Knights would not quit though, answering back with a Boyle goal with just over three minutes to play in the period to make it 5-1 heading to the second intermission.
 
Any momentum the Knights gained late in the second was dashed just five minutes into the final frame, as the Golden Flyers found the back of the net again to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Neumann fought back right away with a Kneedler one-timer off a feed from Clay Boyd just 35 seconds after the Nazareth goal to make it 6-2 at the 5:40 mark, but that was as close as the Knights would get the rest of the way. The visitors tacked on two more tallies to make it 8-2, before Boyd scored his second goal of the game at 14:03 as a bit of consolation. The game would end 8-3 in favor of Nazareth, with the Golden Flyers holding a 36-28 edge in shots.
 
Neumann (0-1-0, 0-1-0 UCHC) will look to find its first win tomorrow when it returns to home ice for a matchup with conference rival Utica College. Puck-drop for the UCHC battle is scheduled for 4:00 PM.