Articles
UVM Drops Heartbreaker to UMass 3-2 in Overtime at Frozen Fenway
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- Created on Sunday, 08 January 2012 05:50
- Written by George Commo
UMass wins 3-2 on power play goal with 22.3 seconds left in overtime
Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
BOSTON, MA. – Michael Marcou buried a loose puck on the power play with 22.3 seconds left in overtime and UMass Amherst skated away with a 3-2 win over Vermont in Hockey East action in game one of the Sun Life Frozen Fenway 2012 doubleheader at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Catamounts to 4-15-1 (1-11-1 HEA), while the Minutemen improve to 7-8-5 (3-6-4 HEA).
"I give our guys a lot of credit, everything we addressed in between periods they adapted to and executed in the game really well,” said head coach Kevin Sneddon. “We had some great looks to win it, both in regulation on that five minute power play, and certainly in overtime. I told the guys, it's a game of inches and it was a hard-fought game both ways. I'm proud of the way our guys represented our institution here in Boston this weekend.”
Vermont took the lead on the power play about halfway through the first period after Eric Filiou was called for boarding at 9:13. Nick Bruneteau found Sebastian Stalberg along the right wing boards at the outside hash mark, and Stalberg closed in to wrist a shot on goal. Jeff Teglia made the initial save, but the rebound popped up and Kyle Reynolds batted it out of mid air into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Just ten seconds later, UMass responded to tie the game as Filiou atoned for his earlier penalty. Patrick Kiley picked up a loose puck in the left wing corner and centered a pass out to Filiou in the slot. Filiou collected to puck and wristed a quick shot past Rob Madore to knot the score at one. Kiley and Colin Shea picked up the assists for the Minutemen.
Early in the second period, Massachusetts took its first lead of the night after a giveaway in the Vermont zone. Danny Hobbs stole an outlet pass at the top of the left faceoff circle and skated in on Madore. The senior put a low shot toward goal and the puck trickled through Madore's five-hole for Hobbs' sixth goal of the season to make it 2-1 UMass.
UVM responded less than seven minutes later as Hobbs handed the Catamounts their fourth power play of the night with a tripping minor. Stalberg took a feed from Drew MacKenzie and streaked down the right wing boards into the UMass zone. The junior centered the puck back to MacKenzie who was waiting at the left post, and the defenseman tipped it past Teglia to tie the game at the 7:35 mark of the second.
The game remained tied throughout the third period as Kiley was handed a five-minute major for hitting MacKenzie from behind, giving the Catamounts an extended power play with 2:43 left in regulation. Vermont couldn't capitalize late in the final frame and took the remaining 2:17 of power play time into overtime, but once again failed to find a way past Teglia.
With 1:19 remaining in the extra session, Michael Paliotta was penalized with a five-minute major on a hitting from behind call. On the ensuing power play, UMass moved the puck around and Marcou worked his way open for a shot from the center point. With a pile of bodies in front of Madore, Hobbs and Conor Sheary both got a piece of the puck on the rebound and it deflected out to Marcou in the right circle. The defenseman fired it home to win the game at 4:37 of overtime.
Madore finished the night with 25 saves for the Catamounts, while Teglia stopped 24 shots to pick up the win for UMass. The Minutemen outshot the Catamounts 28-26, but UVM had a 19-13 edge in the second and third periods combined. Vermont went 2-7 on the power play, while Massachusetts was 1-4 as it capitalized on the man-up for the game-winner.
“We realized that hockey's a game again, it's about having some fun and the way you have fun is competing and battling for each other,” said Sneddon. “We are still just starting to gel as a team. I believe in our guys and I think we're seeing tremendous growth. I think if we can get some injured guys back, it's certainly not too late. You saw the smiles all weekend here, we just have to dig down and find that within, every time we practice or play a game.”
“This has been a tremendous experience for all of us, from the alumni game to all the different receptions we had to engage our alumni,” Sneddon continued. “They see what kind of quality people we have within our program. We have great young men and they represent our institution with class at all times and I think they did that again tonight.”
Vermont returns home to Gutterson Fieldhouse next weekend to host UMass Lowell on Friday (Jan. 13) at 7 p.m., followed by Providence on Sunday (Jan. 15) at 4 p.m. The Catamounts have yet to face the River Hawks this season and were swept by the Friars on the road on Nov. 4 and 5. Both teams last played on Thursday, as Lowell (12-5-0, 7-4-0 HEA) beat the Russian Red Stars 6-4 in an exhibition game while Providence (8-8-2, 6-4-1 HEA) tied UMass Amherst 4-4.
NOTES: Check UVMathletics.com for CatamounTV highlights, post-game reaction, and photos … Sebastian Stalberg now has six multi-point games in his last nine contests, with four goals and 10 assists in that span … Nick Bruneteau has six points in his last six games … Drew MacKenzie is riding a six-game point streak and has a point in eight of his last nine games … Three of the last four meetings between the Catamounts and Minutemen have been decided by one goal … It marked the first overtime game between the schools since 1970 … Vermont has scored at least one power play goal in each of its last six games after going 2-7 against UMass on Saturday … The sellout crowd of 37,493 represents the largest crowd ever to watch a University of Vermont athletic event … The previous record was set when the UVM men's basketball team faced Ohio State in December of 1999 in a game watched by 19,100 fans at Value City Arena … Fenway Park is celebrating its 100th anniversary season as the ballpark opened in 1912.
