DURHAM, N.H. - Junior forward Liam Devlin (Needham, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the No. 16 University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated No. 14 UMass, 3-2, on Saturday evening at the Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex in Hockey East action.
Junior goalie Jakob Hellsten (Ljusdal, Sweden) recorded 25 saves to earn the win. Freshman forward J.P. Turner (East Falmouth, Mass.) scored the first goal of the game, while junior captain Alex Gagne (Bedford, N.H.) tied the game with his first goal of the season with just 2:09 left in the third period.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 17-12-1 (10-9-1 Hockey East), while the Minutemen fall to 17-10-3 (10-8-2 Hockey East).
UNH's 17-12-1 record is its best after the first 30 games of the season in 11 years when the Wildcats were 17-8-5 in 2012-13.
UP NEXT:
- Next up for the 'Cats will be a home-and-home series versus No. 1 Boston College on Friday and Sunday, March 1 and 3. Friday is Star Wars Night at the Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex at 7 p.m., while Sunday is at Conte Forum at 5 p.m.
Score: #16 UNH 3, #14 UMass 2 (OT)
Records: UNH (17-12-1, 10-9-1 Hockey East); UMass (17-10-3, 10-8-2 Hockey East)
Location: Durham, N.H. (Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024
Attendance: 6,085
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- UNH scored the only goal of the first period when Turner tipped a shot by freshman defenseman Brendan Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass.) to the back of the net at 17:57. Junior forward Robert Cronin (Plymouth, Mass.) also tallied an assist on the goal.
- The Minutemen tied the game 1-1 at 7:53 of the second period when Cole O'Hara knocked in a loose puck for a power play goal.
- At 7:25 of the third period the Minutemen took a 2-1 lead when O'Hara fired a shot through traffic to land a goal stick side for his second of the game.
- The Wildcats tied the game 2-2 at 17:51 of the third period when senior defenseman Nikolai Jenson (Cold Spring, Minn.) ripped a shot from the right point that was tipped in by Gagne. Sophomore forward Cy LeClerc (Brentwood, N.H.) also recorded an assist.
- Then in overtime Devlin netted the game-winning goal stick side to give the Wildcats the 3-2 victory at 1:13 of the OT period.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- UMass outshot UNH, 27-26.
- The Wildcats went 0-4 on the power play and the Minutemen went 1-2.
- Hellsten tallied 25 saves for the Wildcats to improve to 12-9-1 on the year, while Michael Hrabal tallied 23 saves for the Minutemen and falls to 13-8-1.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Wildcats are 3-0-1 in overtime this season.
- UNH is 10-2-0 after a loss this season.
- The Wildcats are 12-3-1 at home. The 12 wins are the most at home in 15 seasons when UNH went 12-4-2 in 2008-09.
