A late second period goal from Blair Jones stood up as the winner in the Utica Comets 3-2 victory over the Portland Pirates Wednesday night at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
The Pirates got off to a good start, opening the scoring on a Vincent Saponari tally at 8:19 of the first period. The goal was set up by Zac Larraza (just up from ECHL Manchester) and Chase Balisy.
Utica tied the game at the 18:04 mark when Darren Archibald beat Mike McKenna, with the assists going to Alex Friesen and Joseph Labate.