WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Cortland men's hockey team, ranked 13th nationally by USCHO and ninth nationally by DIII Hockey News, used goals from three different players and a strong goaltending performance by Ronan Mobley (Playa Del Ray, CA/New Hampshire Avalanche) to earn a 3-2 road victory over nationally 10th-ranked Wilkes on Monday evening. Cortland improves to 8-3-0 on the year, while Wilkes falls to 9-3-0 with the defeat.

Sam Christiano (Buffalo/Buffalo Jr. Sabres), Justin Legault (Oakville, ON/Burlington Cougars), and Andrew Clouden (Hamburg/Seacoast Spartans) each scored for the Red Dragons, while Mobley made 29 saves to improve to 7-0-0 in his seven starts in goal.

Five different Red Dragons had an assist, including Matthew DeSpirt (Hamburg/Northeast Generals), Anthony Bernardo (Hauppauge/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders), Conor Humphrey (Penfield/Rochester Jr. Americans), Nate Berke (Williamsville/Buffalo Jr. Sabres), and Stephen Kyrkostas (Selden/Johnstown Tomahawks). Domenic Settimo (East Meadow/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders) won 11-of-15 faceoffs for Cortland.

Jack Perna stopped 34 shots in goal for the Colonels, while Cam Lowe and Patrick Roginski scored a goal apiece for Wilkes.

Just over seven minutes into the opening period, Christiano gave Cortland the early lead with his fifth goal of the season. Kyrkostas and DeSpirt recorded assists on the goal. The Red Dragons wasted little time extending the lead, as Legault netted his fourth goal of the year only 1:34 later off assists from Bernardo and Berke.

Cortland continued to increase the pressure on Wilkes, but a hooking penalty by the Red Dragons with under eight minutes left in the period allowed the hosts to pull back to within a goal at 2-1 with a power-play goal by Lowe.

The score remained 2-1 into the first intermission, with Cortland holding a decisive 19-10 advantage in shots on goal.

The second period was scoreless for both teams, with Cortland having 11 shots on goal and Wilkes firing 10 shots. The Red Dragons played much of the final 3:30 down a skater after two minor penalties, but the penalty kill limited Wilkes to just four shots on goal on the power plays, all of which Mobley was able to save to preserve the 2-1 lead.

Early in the third period, the teams traded shots off of the post, with Berke firing a shot off the pipe, before Lowe rang a shot off the post less than 30 seconds later.

With 11:04 remaining in the period, Clouden netted his first goal of the season for what turned out to be the game-winning goal off of an assist from Humphrey. With 5:29 remaining, Roginski scored to make it 3-2 and give the Colonels hope.
 
In the final minutes, Wilkes pulled the goaltender in an attempt to tie the score. The Red Dragons held Wilkes to just one shot on goal in the final two minutes to earn the victory.
 
Score by periods:
Cortland               2-0-1      3
Wilkes                    1-0-1      2

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Sam Christiano 1-0, Justin Legault 1-0, Andrew Clouden 1-0, Anthony Bernardo 0-1, Stephen Kyrkostas 0-1, Conor Humphrey 0-1, Nate Berke 0-1, Matthew DeSpirt 0-1
Wilkes: Cam Lowe 1-0, Patrick Roginski 1-0, Cole Jungwirth 0-1, Max Cocchi 0-1, Carter Jordan 0-1

Saves: Ronan Mobley (Cortland) 29 saves (2 GA in 60:00); Jack Perna (Wilkes) 34 saves (3 GA in 58:03)

Shots on goal: Cortland 37 (19-11-7), Wilkes 31 (10-10-11)
Penalties: Cortland 4-8:00, Wilkes 2-4:00
Power Play: Cortland 0-2, Wilkes 1-4

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 8-3-0 (ranked 13th nationally by USCHO, ranked ninth nationally by DIII Hockey News); Wilkes (Colonels) 9-3-0 (ranked 10thh nationally by USCHO and DIII Hockey News)