WILKES BARRE, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team battled hard on the road at Wilkes University, but ultimately fell by a score of 4-1 in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action on Friday evening.
 
Danny Cangelosi lit the lamp for the Knights in the loss, while Kyle Pantalone picked up 38 saves in net.
 
After a two-week hiatus, the Knights returned to the ice looking to climb the UCHC standings into a better playoff spot. Wilkes had other plans though, scoring just 3:42 into the contest to take a 1-0 lead after one. The Colonels held a 14-9 edge in shots in the first frame.
 
The hosts' stingy defense continued into the second stanza, as Neumann continued to struggle to break through offensively. The Knights also became undisciplined in the middle frame, taking three early penalties to give a potent Wilkes power play multiple tries with the man-advantage. Neumann shut down two of those power-plays, but could not stop the third, as the Colonels doubled their lead at 2-0 with 10:18 left in the period. The visitors threw seven shots at the Wilkes cage in the stanza, but none would get past the Colonel net-minder as the hosts retained their two-goal cushion at intermission.
 
Wilkes then blew the game wide open midway through the third. With Neumann pressing for a goal to get back in the game, the Colonels countered the Knights with a pair of goals just 36 seconds apart to all but seal the matchup and make it 4-0 with 9:52 left. Cangelosi spoiled the shutout with an unassisted goal at 17:31, but that was all that the visitors could muster as they fell by a score of 4-1 on the road.
 
Neumann (1-4-2) will wrap up its regular season tomorrow with a home contest versus Utica College. Puck-drop for the UCHC finale is scheduled for 5:00 PM.