ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team fell for the second consecutive day on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 6-2 result to #14 Utica College in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action.
 
Chris Caldwell and Barry Kneedler scored for the Knights in the loss, while Mike Cosentino made 23 saves in goal.
 
A relatively quiet first frame saw the visitors strike first. In a period that featured only one penalty and one goal, the Pioneers broke the scoreless deadlock at 4:03 to take a 1-0 lead into intermission. Utica held an 8-6 edge in shots in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The game would come to life the second stanza, with each team carrying large portions of the frame. Utica was the better team early in the period, doubling its lead at the 8:30 mark to take a 2-0 lead. Neumann would get back into the game late in the stanza though courtesy of the man advantage. After earning a 5-on-3 power play, the Knights broke through with their first goal of the game via Caldwell. Barry Kneedler ripped a one-timer from the lower left corner of the zone that was saved before being knocked home by Caldwell to cut the lead to 2-1 with just over seven minutes left to play in the period. Neumann had a few more opportunities late in the frame to knot things up, but the game headed to intermission with Utica clinging to a one-goal advantage.
 
The Pioneers gained a bit of breathing room early in the third, scoring just 2:09 into the period to take a 3-1 lead. The hosts would not go away though, retaliating right away with a goal from Kneedler under a minute later to make it 3-2. The junior forward wired a puck just under the crossbar to bring the Knights back to within a goal. Unfortunately for Neumann, that would be as close as the hosts would get. Utica asserted its dominance late with three unanswered goals to close out the game, skating away with a 6-2 conference win.
 
Neumann (0-2-0, 0-2-0 UCHC) will look to rebound next weekend when the team heads to Elmira College on Friday, November 15th. Puck-drop for the conference matchup is scheduled for 7:00 PM.