DURHAM, N.H. - With the Wildcats trailing 3-2 with just 34 seconds left in the third period, junior Liam Blackburn (Prince George, British Columbia) scored the equalizer as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team tied No. 19 Miami, 3-3, on Friday night at the Whittemore Center. The Wildcats are now 1-6-4 while the Red Hawks are 9-5-1.
UP NEXT
- The Wildcats will conclude their two-game series with No. 19 Miami on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 7:00 p.m. on YouTube. Tap into your inner Don Johnson and join us for Miami Vice Night. Mullets and white jackets encouraged. Sunglasses will be awarded to the first 1,000 fans. You can buy tickets by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at (603) 862-4000 or by visiting UNHWildcats.com.
Score: #19 Miami 3, New Hampshire 3 (OT)
Records: New Hampshire (1-6-4, 1-3-2 HEA), Miami (9-5-1, 3-3-0 NCHC)
Location: Durham, N.H. (Whittemore Center)
Date: Friday, Nov. 23, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Wildcats made it 1-0 at 8:00 of the first period when freshman Eric Esposito (West Haven, Conn.) sent a wrist shot towards the net and senior Matt Dawson (Delta, British Columbia) tipped it in glove side.
- Just 1:11 later, the RedHawks tied the game after River Rymsha's wrist shot from the blue line ricocheted off the boards, and Josh Melnick buried the rebound in the net past the glove side.
- At 12:23 UNH scored its second goal of the game during the power play when sophomore Charlie Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) passed the puck to the front of the net from outside the circle and sophomore Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa) deflected the puck to freshman Angus Crookshank, (North Vancouver, British Columbia) who slid it past Ryan Larkin.
- After the first period, freshman Ty Taylor (Richmond, British Columbia) had 10 saves while Larkin had eight. UNH went 1-2 on the power-play.
- A goal by Miami's Casey Gilling was overruled after replay at 16:54 of the second period to keep the score 2-1 in favor of the Wildcats.
- After the end of the second period, the Wildcats outshot the RedHawks 10-6.
- The RedHawks opened up the scoring at 2:34 of the third period when Karch Bachman blasted a wrist shot into the net from the top of the crease to tie the score at two.
- At 4:08 Miami took the lead when Ben Lown repossessed a bouncing puck in front of the net and chipped it into the upper netting of the goal to make the score 3-2 in favor of the RedHawks.
- With 34 seconds left in the third period and an empty net the Wildcats tied it up 3-3 to send the game into overtime after Esposito wrapped around the back of the net and passed to Blackburn, who blasted the puck to the upper-stick side of the net.
- The Wildcats had 14 shots on goal during the third period while the RedHawks had eight.
- Each team took three shots on goal in overtime, but neither could find the back of the net for the game-winner, making the final score 3-3.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- UNH outshot Miami by a 37-28 margin.
- Taylor made 25 saves, while Larkin recorded 34.
- The Wildcats went 1-3 on the power play and the RedHawks went 1-2.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- Esposito earned his first two collegiate points in tonight's game with two assists.
- Kelleher is on a four-game point streak with one goal and five assists for six points.
- Six of the 11 games this season for UNH have gone to overtime. The Wildcats are 1-1-4 in those games.
