NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College men's ice hockey team scored four unanswered goals in the first period of tonight's 2021-22 home opener against No. 14 nationally-ranked Wilkes University at the Ralph Walker Skating Rink, but it proved not to be enough. The visiting Colonels scored the game's final six goals to steal a 6-4 road victory.

Leading the way for the Falcons was sophomore forward Jonathan Stein (Vancouver, British Columbia) with two goals, while JJ Berdal (Wausau, Wis.) and Sam Anderson (Calgary, Alberta) both tallied their first goals of the season.

THE BASICS
FINAL: No. 14 Wilkes 6 | Albertus Magnus 4
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (0-4-0) | Wilkes (6-0-0)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Falcons burst out of the gates in the first period, scoring four times before the Colonels even knew what happened. The game's opening tally came 3:28 into the contest, as Anderson brought the puck through the neutral zone before flicking it over the opposing keeper's glove-side shoulder to give Albertus a 1-0 lead. Ryan Malko (Cranford, N.J.) and Ryan Herpy (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) were credited with assists on the tally.

Berdal got into the mix next, finding the back of the net 3:49 later. Ryan Colwell (Plainedge, N.Y.) found a trailing Berdal streaking down the ice when he gathered the pass and calmly sniped the top-right corner to put the Falcons up 2-0. Christoffer Juvas (Stockholm, Sweden) recorded the first of his two assists on the evening.

With 13:28 elapsed in the first, Stein took over the game with his first goal of the night. After stealing the puck in his defensive zone, Juvas sent an outlet pass to Stein, who used his speed to split two defenders before beating the keeper stick side.

The Stein show was not over, as the sophomore scored again 1:19 later. The Vancouver, British Columbia, native helped dislodge the puck from the boards before sending a Tyler Ignazzitto (Bath, Ontario) pass into the back of the net to give the home squad a 4-0 lead with 5:13 left in the opening period. Tim Manning (Concord, Ohio) posted the first assist of his rookie season on the goal. 

Unfortunately for the Falcons, Wilkes halted their momentum with a goal at the 15:55 mark. Jimmy O'Kane scored first for the visitors before a Tyler Barrow power-play goal 2:04 later sent the Falcons into the first intermission up 4-2.

Barrow's first-period goal was the first of three straight extra-man tallies for the visitors. Nick Fea scored the lone goal of the second period on the power play at the 1:06 mark to cut the Colonels' deficit to one, 4-3, heading to the third.

Wilkes tied the game at 4-4 in the first 1:34 of the third period on a second power-play goal from Barrow.

Tied at four goals apiece, both teams traded blows for the next 15-plus minutes, with neither team ending the tie. The back-breaker came with 3:10 left in the game, as Dylan Kuipers snagged a Barrow's saved shot and sent the rebound around Albertus' Logan Bateman's (Ottawa, Ontario) left pad to take a 5-4 advantage.

With the victory already locked up, Wilkes added an empty-net goal with 15 seconds remaining to seal a 6-4 road win.

Bateman did his best all night to maintain the Falcons' lead. The junior from Ottawa, Ontario, allowed two even-strength goals, the other three coming with a man down. He finished the evening with 32 saves, one way from his career-high with the team.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Albertus: Logan Bateman (L, 0-2-0): Shots on Goal 37 | Goals-Against 5 | Saves 32
Wilkes: Nico Pidro (W, 1-0-0): Shots on Goal 20 | Goals-Against 0 | Saves 20
M. Paterson-Jones: Shots on Goal 7 | Goals-Against 4 | Saves 3

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Falcons were outshot in the contest, 38-27.
• Albertus was whistled for 10 penalties, serving 28 minutes.
• Wilkes sent two players to the box for four minutes.
• The Colonels went 3-for-9 on the power play, while the Falcons were unsuccessful on their one opportunity.
• Colwell paced Albertus with four shots.

NOTEWORTHY

• Today's game marked the second all-time meeting between Albertus and Wilkes.
• The Colonels improved to 2-0-0 with tonight's win.
• Stein has scored in back-to-back games and has three goals on the year.
• Both Anderson and Berdal tallied their first career goals.
• Colwell, Manning, Ignazzitto, Juvas, and Malko all posted their first career assist.
• Herpy posted his first assist as a junior tonight. 
• Bateman finished one save shy of tying his career-high.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 20, when they head to Clinton, N.Y. to play Hamilton College. The opening puck drop is slated for 3 p.m. at the Russell Sage Rink.