AMHERST, Mass. - No. 14 University of Massachusetts hockey traded goals with Rensselaer in the first period, but ultimately the Engineers came out on top in the exhibition matchup, scoring the overtime winner in the final minute of the extra frame to take the contest over the Minutemen, 2-1.
"Last night, our first game was physically and emotionally draining for our guys and we knew RPI would be good competition," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "I thought in the third period, we started to pick it up and played the game I wanted to see out of our group. In the overtime we hit some posts, pucks were sitting on the goal line, and they came down and got a soft one. I guess that's just the way it is. But these exhibitions are good. We got everybody out there playing, got some reps, but our guys looked a little tired today. But that's to be expected this time of year."
UMass opened the scoring 12:38 into the first period when Jack Musa sprung Michael Cameron and Kenny Connors on the rush and Connors finished the play with a one-timer into the back of the RPI net.
With the period winding down, the Engineers equalized on the power play with traffic in front as Max Smolkinski set up Jakob Lee for the score at 18:32.
The teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 through regulation to force OT. The Minutemen had several grade "A" chances in the frame, including a breakaway for Cameron that ended with the puck sitting on the goal line and a rocket from Aydar Suniev that rung off the crossbar.
John Beaton potted the deciding tally for RPI with 46 seconds to play in the frame.
The Engineers finished with a 35-26 advantage in shots on goal and went 1-for-5 on the power play, while UMass was 0-for-5.
Jack Watson played the first 40 minutes in net for RPI before being relieved by Noah Giesbrecht in the third and they posted 11 and 14 saves, respectively. Jackson Irving turned aside 33 in net for the Minutemen.
UMass will be back in action on Friday, October 11, when the squad will open the Ice Breaker Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada against #15/17 Omaha at 7 p.m. Eastern.
