Joseph Pendenza and Sam Lebrecque traded goals at either end of the ice as UMass Lowell and Clarkson University battled to a 1-1 draw before 3,457 people, at the Tsongas Center, Friday night.
"It leaves you with a sour taste," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin. "Getting points throughout the full course of the season is very important and I think we let a point go tonight."
The tie is the first of the year for UMass Lowell whose record now stands at 13-5-1. Clarkson is 12-5-2. The game was the 10th in the Golden Knights last 11 to be decided by one goal or less.
The two teams, who played one another last Sunday, will meet for a third time Saturday afternoon, at 4:00pm, at the Tsongas Center.
UMass Lowell jumped on the board first. Pendenza, a senior from Wilmington, Mass., lit the lamp at the 7:02 mark of the first period drilling a wrist shot above the goalie's glove and under the crossbar. He was set up in front of the net by a perfect pass from senior captain Josh Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who got to the loose puck, following an offensive zone faceoff, along the back boards and snapped a pinpoint pass to the low slot finding Pendenza moving from the faceoff circle to the net front. The goal was Pendenza's seventh of the season.
The frustration for UMass Lowell was that they were never able to build on the hard fought lead. The River Hawks outshot Clarkson in the game 39-28 and most significantly in the final period, 17-7.
"I thought we had many opportunities to cash in," said Bazin. "It came back to haunt us."
Clarkson tied the game late in the third period. Lebrecque got the goal leading an odd-man rush, holding the puck before putting a wrist shot into the top of the River Hawk net. The goal at 14:19 of the third period was unassisted and the game was knotted.
The game was dominated by the goaltenders. Clarkson netminder Steve Perry made a career high 38 saves. Senior Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) between the River Hawk pipes kicked out 27 shots including a terrific blocker save on a shot by Clarkson sniper Ben Sexton.
Carr's effort lowered his Goal Against Average to a nation's best 1.60.
Neither team ever got the power play going. Clarkson was 0-for-4 with the man advantage; UMass Lowell was 0-5. The River Hawks final two power play opportunities came in the final seconds(:28 and :3.1) of overtime and were meaningless.