BOSTON, Mass. – Four different players tallied goals as the Utica College men's hockey team earned its fifth straight win with a 4-1 triumph over Wentworth in a non-league contest played at Matthews Arena.
The Pioneers, ranked 11th in the latest USCHO.com Division III Men's Poll, scored the only goal of the first period when junior forward Tim Coffman (Elverson, Pa.) scored on the power play at the 9:54 mark. Utica outshot the Leopards by a 14-8 margin over the first 20:00, with three Wentworth shots coming on its lone power play attempt.
Utica tallied two times in the second period as freshman Mike Slowikowski (Ewing, N.J.) put home a slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle at 6:05. A minute and 50 seconds later the lead was increased to 3-0 when sophomore defenseman Robert Etts (Smithtown, N.Y.) fed freshman forward Trever Hertz (Jaffray, B.C.) from the left side. The Pioneers held a 13-3 shot advantage in a period that saw a combined 33 minutes in penalties.
Wentworth cut the lead to 3-1 at 1:19 of the third period when junior forward Skylur Jameson (Long Beach, Ca.) fed freshman forward Cameron Gibson (Valnecia, Calif.) on a 2-on-1. However, the Pioneers iced the game with an empty-net goal at 19:23 from sophomore forward Evan Chlanda (Islip, N.Y.) after a turnover in the neutral zone.
Freshman goalie Evan Smith (Pentiction, B.C.) made 18 saves to improve to 8-2 on the year. Wentworth freshman Chris Azzano (Oshawa, Ont.) made 35 stops for the Leopards, who were outshot by a 39-19 margin.
With the win Utica improves to 13-4-0 and resumes ECAC West play Friday night at Elmira. Wentworth, which suffered its first home loss of the season, falls to 6-6-4 and resumes ECAC Northeast play Thursday night when the Leopards host Curry.
