LAS VEGAS - No. 14 University of Massachusetts hockey netted an extra attacker goal with less than 90 seconds to play in regulation to force overtime against No. 15/16 Omaha, but fell in the final minute of the extra frame, 3-2, on Friday night at the Ice Breaker Tournament in Orleans Arena.
"I'm a little frustrated, because I liked our game," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "Our first period was really strong. Second period, Omaha gave a push, but then I thought, we got our momentum back. I really liked our game. We just couldn't score 5-on-5. Special teams were good. And then just a bad turnover. It's tough to give a guy a breakaway from 150 feet away."
With the first period winding down, senior Lucas Mercuri poked in his own rebound over Simon Latkoczy's left blocker just before the UMass power play expired for his first goal of the season from classmate Ryan Lautenbach and freshman Daniel Jencko at the 18:15 mark.
Late in the second period, Omaha answered with a power-play goal of its own as Zach Urdahl tied things up at 1-1 as his shot found its way through traffic at the 17:45 mark off a feed from Jacob Guevin and Tyler Rollwagen.
At the 16:56 mark of the third period Jacob Silpec put the Mavericks on top, 2-1, with a seeing-eye shot that found its way past a screened Michael Hrabal. Joe Gramer and Guevin earned the helpers.
With time ticking down in the third, the Minutemen pulled Hrabal for an extra attacker following a timeout. Kenny Connors' stick exploded on an attempted one-timer from Cole O'Hara, but the puck came right to Aydar Suniev's wheelhouse and he deposited the equalizer into the back of the Omaha net at 18:34.
The Mavericks potted the game-winner in the final minute of the OT period as Urdahl capitalized on a UMass turnover and beat Hrabal on a rebound after his initial breakaway attempt was turned aside.
The Minutemen had a player in the penalty box for nearly one-quarter of the game (14 minutes). Omaha was only able to score once with the man advantage, finishing 1-6 on the power play, while UMass ended the game 1-for-4.
The Minutemen edged the Mavericks in shots, 26-24, as Hrabal finished with 21 saves, while Latkoczy turned aside 24 in between the pipes for Omaha.
UMass will play the loser of tonight's Minnesota-Air Force matchup in the consolation game of the Ice Breaker tournament tomorrow, October 12, at 7 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. Pacific).
