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Excitement surrounded the Toyota SportsPlex ahead of the biggest game in Wilkes men’s hockey’s short history. The Colonels were hosting No. 6 Utica, after they had been risen to No. 12 themselves in the USCHO poll.

The excitement didn’t last long though, as the Pioneers scored five goals in the opening period en route to an 8-3 win on Friday. It was Wilkes’ first loss of the season in UCHC play as the Colonels used three different goalies on the night.

“The first period simply wasn’t good. We didn’t compete and we didn’t win battles,” Wilkes coach Tyler Hynes said. “I was happy with the response, but when you give up goals like this that early, it doesn’t mean too much.”

Utica grabbed the first goal 4:40 into the game. Conor Landrigan danced in front of Wilkes goalie Michael Patterson-Jones and flipped the puck into the net. Things continued to roll downhill for the Colonels as Daniel Fritz scored on the power play just 30 seconds later.

The Pioneers scored a third time 10 minutes later, an even-strength goal for Jarrod Fitzpatrick. That one chased Patterson-Jones from the net, sending Brandon Gordon in between the pipes.

“We didn’t follow our game plan. We knew what they were going to do and they didn’t do anything we weren’t expecting,” Patterson-Jones said. “We just came out flat and they took it to us. We just weren’t ready to play.”

Gordon couldn’t slow down the Utica’s potent offense, and they scored twice more in the period as Regen Cavanagh got his first goal and Fritz grabbed his second. Gordon stopped two of the four shots faced to end the first period but did not get a chance to do much else.

Hynes opted to start Nico Pidro, the third goalie of the night, in the second period. Pidro made six saves but let in three goals during the second period. Cavanagh scored twice to complete the hat trick and Donovan Ott added another.

“I really was just trying to find someone that can stop the puck,” Hynes said. “I was disappointed when eight goals went in on 27 shots.”

The Colonels did get on the board in the second period with goals from Tyler Barrow and Danny Reidel.

For the third period, Wilkes put Patterson-Jones back in net to finish the game. This time he stopped all 12 shots the Pioneers threw at him.

“It’s an interesting situation, but this wasn’t a typical game,” Patterson-Jones said. “You kind of have to be ready for anything.”

The Colonels grabbed their third goal, a wrist shot from Devon Schell that found its way through second-string goaltender Sean Dickson.

“They are a really good program, they have guys that are hard to play against and they do the little things right,” Reidel said. “We bounced back well in the second and third period and picked up some momentum.”

The Colonels were outshot in the game 39-28, but just 21-18 in the second and third periods. Special teams struggled for Wilkes, killing just two of four penalties and going 0-for-2 on the power play.

Now, the Colonels will turn around and play Nazareth Saturday and will need to bounce back from back-to-back losses for the first time this season.

“We need to build off of the second and third periods and make a statement against Nazareth,” Barrow said. “We need to show that this wasn’t just a blowout game and we can take positives from this.”

Nazareth also played on Friday night, defeating King’s 4-0. This will be the first game between Wilkes and the Golden Flyers this season.

It’s the teams’ first meeting since last season’s UCHC quarterfinals when Wilkes lost 5-2.

“We don’t lose three in a row, we barely ever lose two in a row,” Reidel said. “Nazareth is going to have it coming tomorrow.”

Nazareth 4, King’s 0

The Monarchs were stifled by Michael Tilford of Nazareth as all 19 shots they took failed to find the back of the net.

Owen Kuhns led the Golden Flyers with three points, two goals and an assist. Brian Miller also added two assists.

King’s will be back in action Saturday, hosting Utica.