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Late Goal Lifts UMass Amherst Past Vermont in Men's Hockey

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Created on Saturday, 21 January 2012 05:07

Written by George Commo

Rebound goal snaps tie with less than four minutes left ... UMass Wins 4-3

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

AMHERST, Mass. – Danny Hobbs netted his first career hat trick and Conor Allen buried a rebound to snap a tie game with less than four minutes left in regulation as UMass Amherst edged Vermont 4-3 at the Mullins Center on Friday night in Hockey East action. The Catamounts drop to 5-17-1 (2-13-1 HEA) with the narrow loss, while the Minutemen move above the .500 mark at 9-8-5 (5-6-4 HEA).

"I think we're in a situation where every game is a playoff game," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "We put ourselves in the hole and we've got to dig our way out and I'm certainly proud of our effort. I think it's more of a focus on what we need to do on boxing out at the net-front and that's my job at teaching them what they need to be better at. Effort wise I couldn't be any more proud of how we played tonight."

UMass opened the scoring at the 8:39 mark of the first period. Vermont cleared its zone down the rink but goalie Steve Mastalerz led the puck back up the left wing quickly to Steven Guzzo. The redshirt freshman crossed the Catamount blue line and fed a pass toward the goal line to Michael Pereira, who dropped it back in the slot for Danny Hobbs. The senior shot the puck into the open net for a 1-0 advantage.

The Minutemen took the lead into the first intermission but UVM responded two minutes into the second. With Massachusetts in the midst of a line change, Brett Leonard picked up the puck at center ice and dished it forward to Anthony DeCenzo down the right wing. DeCenzo dropped it back off for Leonard in the right faceoff circle and he fired a wrister to beat Mastalerz high to the blocker side.

Later in the second, H.T. Lenz and T.J. Syner were called for matching minors, followed by a slashing call against Allen at 11:33. The Catamounts were unable to capitalize on the 4-on-3 power play, but Anders Franzon set up Michael Paliotta for a one-timer as Lenz and Syner came out of the box. Paliotta blasted a low slap shot past Mastalerz from the left point to give UVM its first lead of the night at 2-1.

Vermont carried that slim edge into the second intermission, but the game was tied again roughly a minute into the final frame. A centering feed bounced around the slot and Hobbs connected on a swipe to put a quick shot into the net and knot the score. Halfway through the third, Hobbs found a pass from Joel Hanley and lit the lamp on a similar play with the man advantage to cap off his hat trick and give UMass a 3-2 lead.

The Catamounts fought back less than two minutes later as they created an odd-man rush during a line change. Mike Montagna collected the puck at center ice and skated just inside the UMass zone. The freshman laid a pass back to a charging Matt White in the slot, and the sophomore rifled a wrist shot blocker side on Mastalerz to even things up again.

With less than four minutes left in regulation, two defensemen connected on the eventual game-winner for the Minutemen. Adam Phillips took a feed from Conor Sheary and skated down the right wing boards across the UVM line. Phillips whipped a shot on goal that was saved initially by Madore, but Allen pounced on the rebound in the left circle and found the open net with 3:44 left.

"I thought we played tough everywhere but in front of our net, all four goals tonight were second opportunities where we didn't tie up sticks and box out well enough," said Sneddon. "I think our younger players continue to get better, they're playing a ton of key minutes right now on a team that's pretty depleted with injuries. It hurts sometimes in the short run but I think they're getting better and better as time goes on."

Underclassmen accounted for five of the team's eight points. Madore finished the night with 37 saves for the Catamounts, three shy of his season-high. Mastalerz stopped 35 shots at the other end for UMass as the rookie picked up his second straight win. Both teams went 1-5 on the power play, as Massachusetts had the only three man-ups of the third period.

Vermont returns home to Gutterson Fieldhouse next weekend as it hosts Northeastern (8-10-3, 4-10-2 HEA) on Friday (Jan. 27) and Saturday (Jan. 28) at 7:05 p.m. The Huskies defeated the Catamounts 4-1 in the first meeting of the season series on Nov. 19, 2011 at Matthews Arena.

Live video of both games is available for free online via CatamounTV, and the Saturday game will be televised on WCAXtra.

NOTES: Four of the last five meetings between the Catamounts and Minutemen have been decided by one goal … Drew MacKenzie extended his season-high point streak to nine games with a third period assist … Brett Leonard's goal was the first of his senior season … Vermont tallied 38 shots on goal, which is one shy of its season-high … The Catamounts have scored at least one power play goal in eight of their last nine games … With his next win, Rob Madore will pass Tom McNamara '77 and Sylvain Turcotte '81 for sole possession of sixth place on the all-time wins list … UMass Amherst remains the only team in the nation to boast an unbeaten record at home (7-0-3).