WILKES BARRE, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team saw its season come to an end on Wednesday afternoon, falling to host Wilkes University in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) First Round by a score of 7-4.
 
Dionne Demke scored twice in the loss for the Knights, while Richie Brusco (2 a), Luke Croucher (1 g, 1 a) and Evan Hoey (2 a) all recorded two-point nights. Kyle Pantalone took the loss in goal, stopping 31 shots on the evening.
 
Hoping to pull an upset over the second seeded Colonels, the seventh seeded Knights would dig themselves a big hole early in the contest. Wilkes was sharp in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the visitors by a count of 19-6 in the frame on its way to dominating the first period. The hosts scored three quick goals in a matter of just four minutes of play to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
 
Things got worse for Neumann early in the second, as a fourth Colonel goal at the 2:31 mark made the mountain to climb even steeper at 4-0. The Knights showed some resilience in the stanza though led by Demke. The senior forward single-handedly got the visitors back into the contest with a pair of goals five minutes apart to make it 4-2 with 10:14 left. Wilkes would not let the Knights get any closer though, as it responded with a pair of goals of its own to push the lead back to four goals at 6-2 with 5:22 left in the frame. Again though, Neumann fought back to shift momentum into its favor moving to the third. Croucher scored with 1:12 remaining to cut the advantage to 6-3, then Barry Kneedler lit the lamp with just 3.7 seconds left in the stanza to bring the deficit to 6-4 moving to the third.
 
The Knights had all the momentum from the two late period goals as the game entered the final frame, but despite a 14-7 shot advantage they could not get any closer to the Colonels. Neumann created some quality opportunities via two power plays early in the period, but Wilkes shut the door with solid goaltending to keep the game 6-4 until late in the matchup. After receiving a man-advantage of their own, the Colonels killed off any chance of a comeback with an insurance marker at the 14:01 mark to seal the 7-4 victory. Wilkes will now advance to host the UCHC semifinal round on Saturday, February 26th.
 
Neumann sees it season end with a record of 7-17-1. The young Knights will look to build on a strong end to their season as they try to go even further into the playoffs next season while returning all but six players.