BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – A far better effort than a week ago and the chances to gain a victory where there, but UCONN hockey had to settle for a 3-3 overtime tie against the UMASS-Lowell Riverhawks Friday night at the XL Center.
The Huskies record advances to 2-5-2 overall (1-3-1 HEA) and the Riverhawks record becomes 7-2-4 overall (4-0-3 HEA). The Riverhawks are the top team in Hockey East.
The two teams play Saturday night in Lowell at the Tsongas Center.
The overtime session saw the Huskies have three of the best chances between the two schools.
A clean breakaway by Brian Rigali went forehand on the Riverhawks Tyler Wall, but the big netminder’s left pad stopped the bid at 1:53 of the extra session.
After a wraparound attempt by Sasha Payusov sailed in front, Jachym Kondelik came charging down the middle and fired a chance just wide.
Carter Turnbull, on the entry in the UMASS-Lowell zone, waited for the screen to develop and whistled a wrist shot that Wall closed the door on at 3:49.
“I think certainly that was the first time at home we have played to our potential, and it’s been a rallying cry all week – Let’s play to our potential and wherever the chips may fall, they fall.”
Of his assistants, UCONN head coach, Mike Cavanaugh noted one that he had found a quote from baseball coach Jim Penders, about UCONN’s history, that was founded by two farmers. Farmers get up earlier than everybody else and work the hardest, that was the message for the team prior to the contest.
No Husky sat on a bale of hay. They were in the game for the full 65-minutes. The net-front presence on defense was notably much better as it was on offense.
“We were playing with the puck. We weren’t playing in our defensive zone for most of the game. It’s hard to have energy to play offense, so tonight, we were able to play down in their end for long stretches, which makes it a lot easier to play defense,” remarked Cavanaugh.
In the third period, each team sought to get the game-winner. Six minutes in, the Riverhawks’ Zach Kaiser thought he had it, and then Brian Chambers, but UCONN goalie Tomas Vomacka, who faced his lowest shot total of the season at 15, because of a more solid team approach to defense, earned high praise from his a teammate Kale Howarth.
“Tomas has been great this year. He’s been the best player on this team by far. He’s the goalie I want 10-times-out-of-10. He has always had our back, and now (its our turn) to have his back (tonight). Just a great guy to have between the pipes.”
A wild sequence of plays saw UMASS-Lowell take a 2-1 lead.
A puck sent ahead of Howarth slowed down and he and Wall were in a race to get to it first from 35-feet out from the net dead center.
They came together at the same time, but the puck popped up in the air and Howarth was able to retrieve at the right-wing goal line. He skated ten-feet curled in the lower right-wing circle, shooting for the open net, but Wall, racing back with Rigali in front, managed to get a piece of it preventing the red light from going on for UCONN.
The Riverhawks peeled back up ice and scored taking a 2-1 lead.
Colin O’Neil was on the right-wing circle and as a left-handed shot took Connor Sodergren’s pass off the right-wing boards, skated ten-feet into the circle and zipped his fourth of the season through the five-hole at exactly the 10:00 mark.
UCONN came right back to even the game at two 54 seconds later.
The new defensive pair for UCONN moved the puck quickly. Wyatt Newpower fed Ryan Wheeler at the left point, and Wall made the save, but Marc Gatcomb wrestled himself away from Riverhawks defenseman, Seth Barton, and backhanded the rebound past Wall for his third of the season.
The Huskies briefly regained the lead at 3-2 as Ben Freeman deep in the right corner and took a sharp angle shot. Howarth was in front and tipped it over Wall’s glove at 18:08 on the power play.
“That was a point of emphasis all week, to get pucks deep and get in front of the net. Win those net front battles and it’s any good hockey team’s game plan to get to the front of the net.”
Just 1:08 later, the Riverhawks’ Chase Blackmun, sent a stretch pass off one of the few UCONN miscues of the game to Matt Brown, who slipped behind the UCONN defensive duo of Harrison Rees, and Newpower. Brown went forehand-to-backhand and slipped his fifth goal underneath Vomacka with 44.1 seconds left in the period to tie the game at three.
For the Huskies, the first shot on goal by UMASS-Lowell at 12:08 of the first period found its way into the net.
The Riverhawks executed a perfect power play goal with Detroit Red Wings draftee Seth Barton at the left point fed Charlie Levesque, a right-handed shot at the goal line.
He swiftly sent a cross goal pass to a wide-open Sodergren, who made no mistake burying his first of the season.
UCONN used its first power play late to tie the game at one.
The Huskies Yan Kuznetsov found Alexander Payusov at the top of the left-wing circle and he one-timed a rocket to the top-shelf under the crossbar with a screen setup in from by Jachym Kondelik.
Wall didn’t see anything with the 6’6 sophomore Czech center blocking out the shot and likely the ceiling lights with 59.1 seconds left in the first period.
It was Payusov’s first goal of the season and first since he scored against Vermont on March 1st at the end of last season.
“We have been telling him to shoot the puck. He has a great shot and tonight he had five shots on goal tonight. That’s the most he has had on net all season. That’s what we need out of Sasha, he shoots the puck. We gotta keep him shooting (every game).”
The Huskies held a distinct shot advantage at 11-3 a big change from a week ago against BC.
The first 6:53 UCONN played it tight and solid defensively not allowing a shot on goal and getting a quality left point shot by Kuznetsov.
At the 10:22 mark UML was still without a shot and UCONN’s Kondelik turnaround show saw a left pad save by Wall.
NOTES:
Cavanaugh changed all his line combinations in part of the injury to Jonny Evans (broken finger) and of course to get the team to play better.
Payusov and freshmen Alexander Firtsov went to the first line with Kondelik.
Created a whole new second line with Ruslan Iskharov-Cale Howarth and Carter Turnbull and a third line of Justin Howell at center flanked by Zac Robbins and Rigali.
Then dropped Freeman and Marc Gatcomb to fourth line with Eric Linell (Choate Rosemary Hall).
On defense, Kuznetsoc and Rees went from the third unit to the first pair and put Wheeler in for Ryan Flynn with Newpower as his second pair and dropped Cater Berger and Adam Karaschik to the third pair.
The 12th ranked nationally red-hot Riverhawks lead the series at 6-4-2 and had won four straight against UCONN.
Standing in the Huskies way was Wall, another Rangers draft choice who has been lights out early in college hockey season. He has played 11 of their 12 games has a .949 save percentage and a GAA equally as impressive at 1.59 coming into the game.
He has just two regulation losses 3-2 to Colgate in OT and 2-1 to the defending national champion. University Minnesota-Duluth plus two overtime ties to go with his seven wins.
UCONN has its next seven games at home as part of a 10 game stretch.
Huskies are still winless at home so far this season (0-4-1).
UCONN announced earlier in the day the formal national letter of intent was signed by East Haven native Nick Capone who originally two years ago committed to Maine.
He went Salisbury prep school for two years and presently is play with the Tri-City Storm (USHL) where he has six points in 14 games so far in his first full season of junior hockey.
Capone will matriculate at UCONN next season 2020-21.
