Articles

MacKenzie Lifts Vermont Men's Hockey Past New Hampshire 4-3 in Overtime

Details: Created on Saturday, 18 February 2012 05:00; Written by George Commo

Lenz game-tying goal with 13.3 seconds left, MacKenzie game winner in OT

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

DURHAM, N.H. – H.T. Lenz slapped in the game-tying goal with 13.3 seconds left in regulation, and Drew MacKenzie followed by stashing home a rebound at the left post in overtime to lift Vermont past New Hampshire 4-3 on Friday night at the Whittemore Center. The Catamounts (6-22-1, 3-18-1 HEA) snapped a six-game winless streak against the Wildcats (12-15-3, 9-12-2 HEA) to post their second overtime win of the season.

"I'm very proud of our team, I think it just shows the kind of character we have, being down late on the road, finding a way to get the equalizer, and then playing to win in overtime," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "We worked hard to get back into this game, let's leave it all out there and try to win it. I'm very pleased with our effort, blocked shots, paying the price against a very skilled team I thought we did a pretty good job defensively tonight and Rob (Madore) was very good at times when we needed him."

Mike Montagna nearly opened the scoring as he rang the post on a rush just 2:14 into the first period, but UNH would capitalize first roughly five minutes later. Eric Knodel was able to pin the puck inside the UVM zone at the left point and feed Kevin McCarey with a short pass in the high slot. McCarey slid the puck down to the right circle for Scott Pavelski, and the junior wristed a shot past Rob Madore over his left shoulder.

The Catamounts had the answer just 35 seconds later as they created sustained pressure off the center ice faceoff. Connor Brickley collected pass at the center point and fed Michael Paliotta at the top of the left faceoff circle. Paliotta settled the puck and wristed a shot toward goal through a screen, and Lenz deflected it past Casey DeSmith to knot the score at one.

With two minutes left in the opening frame, Brickley was called for a roughing minor to give New Hampshire its first power play of the night. On the ensuing man advantage, UNH worked the puck around the top of the offensive zone and Jeff Silengo set up Knodel at the center point. The defenseman uncorked a one-time drive through traffic into the right side of the net to put the Wildcats back on top.

It remained a 2-1 score until the third period when Paliotta jumped up in the play to even things up again. Kyle Reynolds located the puck along the left wing half wall and lifted a saucer pass toward the slot. Paliotta streaked down middle of the ice to collect the pass and he rifled a shot into the upper left corner of the goal for his fourth tally of the year.

This time it was the Wildcats who had the quick answer as their top line made it a 3-2 game. Stevie Moses curled around the high slot to the right circle and dished the puck to the bottom of the left circle for Nick Sorkin. The sophomore spun a pass to an open Kevin Goumas at the top of the crease and he tapped it into the open net at 9:16 of the final frame.

With 58 seconds left to play, UNH was whistled for a hand pass to give UVM an offensive zone faceoff. After calling their timeout and pulling Madore for an extra skater, Sebastian Stalberg held the puck along the left boards on the edge of the zone and whipped it across the ice to MacKenzie. The defenseman sent it back to the left point for Lenz, who waited patiently and blasted a slap shot into the top left corner to tie the game at three with 13.3 seconds left.

Madore made a key right pad save on Goumas in the first 90 seconds of overtime, which helped to spring a transition play for the game-winner. Anthony DeCenzo streaked down the right wing and gained the UNH zone on a 4-on-3 before laying a pass into the high slot for Montagna. The freshman wristed a shot on DeSmith and he made the initial stop, but MacKenzie pounced on the rebound at the left post and buried the loose puck to win it for UVM.

"Our returning players need to understand that we've got a difficult schedule continuing tomorrow night here," said Sneddon. "The biggest thing is honoring our seniors and playing our hearts out every night, they've given a lot to the program and we want to make sure that they enjoy this last month of hockey. Mentally as tough as this year has been on their confidence, they're finding ways to get tougher in situations."

Madore finished the night with 30 saves for Vermont to pick up the victory, making several key saves to keep the score close in the second and third periods. DeSmith compiled 17 saves at the other end for his sixth loss of the season. Vermont only had one power play opportunity on the night and finished 0-1, while New Hampshire went 1-4 but was scoreless by UVM on its final three man-up chances.

Vermont and New Hampshire skate again tomorrow night to wrap up the regular season series, as the puck drops at 7 p.m. from the Whittemore Center. It will mark the 100th all-time meeting between the Catamounts and Wildcats.

NOTES: Check back to UVMathletics.com for highlights and post-game reaction … H.T. Lenz has scored four of his five goals this season against UNH, and two of those tallies have tied the game with less than 1:30 left in the third period. Both of his multi-goal games have come against the Wildcats … Friday night marked the first career multi-goal game from Michael Paliotta … Drew MacKenzie has at least one point in 13 of his last 15 games, while Kyle Reynolds has registered 14 points in his last 13 contests … Rob Madore moved into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time wins list at UVM with his 41st career victory … 14 of the last 18 Vermont goals have been scored by underclassmen … Vermont entered the night 0-4-2 in its last six meetings with New Hampshire … The two schools will have played 14 times in the last three seasons after tomorrow night.