ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team fell in its final game of the 2019 portion of its schedule on Saturday evening, dropping a tight 2-1 result to visiting Wilkes University in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action.
 
Ryan Swain scored for the Knights in the loss, while Kyle Pantalone made 26 saves in goal.
 
Despite a solid first period of play that saw Neumann hold an 11-6 edge in shots in the opening 20 minutes, the Knights found themselves down by a pair of goals after one. Using two odd-man rushes Wilkes notched two tallies in a span of just 2:12 to take an early 2-0 lead heading to intermission.
 
The hosts continued to do everything but score in the second stanza. Neumann again held an edge in shots in the period (12-11), but could not put a puck past the Colonel goaltender. Barry Kneedler nearly got the Knights on the board at the 13 minute mark, but his shot from a sharp angle rang of the post as the game remained 2-0. A minute and a half later, Wilkes almost widened its lead to three on a 2-on-0 breakaway, but an excellent post to post save from Pantalone kept the Knights in the game. With the period winding down, Neumann again had a close call as an excellent 3-on-2 ended with Chris Caldwell being robbed on a back-hand effort in the crease.
 
The third period remained relatively quiet for over half of the final frame before the Knights made it interesting in the game's waning minutes. Swain sniped home a shot from the right circle off a nifty feed from Tommy Dougherty to get Neumann back to within a goal with 5:15 left to play. The hosts pushed for an equalizer by pulling Pantalone for an extra attacker with a minute remaining, but despite a few good chances the game would finish 2-1 in favor of the visitors.
 
Neumann (3-7-0, 3-5-0 UCHC) will now have a month off before returning to action after the holiday break. The Knights will get back on the ice with a non-conference game on Friday, January 3rd at SUNY Brockport at 7:00 PM.