AMHERST, Mass. - The UConn men's hockey team skated to a tie vs. no.13 Massachusetts Friday evening. UConn will come away with the extra point after Jake Flynn scored and senior goaltender Ethan Haider shut down the Minutemen in the shootout.
After a scoreless first period, Massachusetts began the second period on the power play. With the extra skater, Jack Musa of UMass buried the shot past senior netminder Ethan Haider to take the lead. 44 seconds later, following a faceoff win by sophomore Samu Salminen, sophomore Tom Messineo found Jake Percival up ice where Percival was able to net the equalizer on the breakaway. Later in the period, the Huskies took the lead when freshman Joey Muldowney collected a pass from Ryan Mahshie and Tom Messineo and was able to net his first career goal off a deflection. Ethan Haider was steady in the second period, saving 17 shots and maintaining the Huskies lead heading into the third period.
Massachusetts found the equalizing goal after failed clear attempts by the Huskies. The Minutemen eventually took the 3-2 late in the third period once again while on the power play. With two minutes remaining in the game, a penalty on Massachusetts gave UConn the extra skater. Following a timeout by UConn, the Huskies won the faceoff and following tic-tac-toe passing, senior captain Hudson Schandor found the back of the net for the equalizing goal.
Both teams had their chances to end the game in the overtime period however neither team was able to find the back of the net. The shootout went four rounds before graduate student Jake Flynn went bar down for the winning goal.
Senior Ethan Haider finished the night with 42 saves, and with the shootout win, the Huskies received the extra point in Hockey East standings.
UConn will be back in action, Friday, January 12 as they will welcome the Maine Black bears to the XL Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
