SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - No. 13/14 University of Massachusetts hockey erased a 1-0 deficit in the second period, but No. 3 Denver ultimately netted the deciding tally 12:28 into a second overtime to hand UMass a 2-1 setback in the NCAA Regional Semifinal at MassMutual Center on Thursday. With the loss, the Minutemen end the season at 20-14-3, while the Pioneers move on to the Regional Final with a record of 29-9-3.
"I'm extremely proud of the way we played tonight," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "I know there was a lot of chatter about whether we deserved to be in the tournament. I didn't doubt it for a second. I thought we would give Denver a hell of a game and we did. To be honest, in overtime I loved the energy of our team. It just felt like we were going to find a way. It was an excellent hockey game. Congratulations to Denver. They're a tremendous hockey team, but I'm extremely extremely proud of the way we played tonight the way we represented Hockey East."
After a scoreless first, Denver took a 1-0 lead at the 5:12 mark of the second period with Boston Buckberger sending the puck through traffic from the right point after Tristan Lemyre and Connor Caponi circled the UMass offensive zone before finding Buckberger above the faceoff circle.
The Minutemen leveled the score at 1-1, 12:52 into the second. Graduate student Lucas Vanroboys' attempt at the top of the crease was turned aside, but sophomore Owen Murray was able to swat the puck back out of the fray for graduate student Liam Gorman to hammer home.
The teams remained deadlocked for the next 40 minutes and 24 seconds, which included Denver successfully fending off a UMass power play chance early in the second overtime.
At the 12:28 mark of the second OT frame, Tristan Broz fired home a shot through traffic from the high slot with Buckberger and Devine collecting the assists.
The Minutemen finished with a 47-43 edge in shots and both teams were 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
Michael Hrabal totaled 41 saves in net for UMass and Matt Davis turned aside 46 for Denver.
