FARGO, N.D. - No. 13/11 Massachusetts hockey erased a 3-1 deficit in the third period and went on to knock off No. 5 Minnesota in overtime, 5-4 on Thursday night in NCAA first round action at Scheels Arena. With the win, the Minutemen (21-13-5) advance to play top-seeded Western Michigan at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 29 in the Fargo Regional Final (ESPNU).
"There was a lot of talk about Minnesota's break coming into the game being a factor," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "I think 10 days off proved to be a factor for us. We were not very good the first half of the game. I challenged the team after the second intermission and they came out and it looked like UMass hockey in the third period. I'm extremely proud of the guys. It was a huge win. We played in Minnesota a couple years ago and lost to them in overtime. We talked all this week about how it was probably going to be a similar type of game where we were going to have to find a way to win in overtime and the kids did a tremendous job."
With UMass on a 4-on-3 penalty kill, Jimmy Snuggerud beat netminder Michael Hrabal with a one-timer from the top of the left faceoff circle off a feed from Sam Rinzel and Mike Koster to put the Gophers in front, 1-0.
Just 20 seconds later, the Minutemen tied the score at one. Senior Ryan Lautenbach and freshman Francesco Dell'Elce started the rush up the ice with the teams skating 4-on-4 and Larry Keenan finished off the play with a low wrister from the point that beat Liam Souliere for his fourth tally of the season.
The Gophers would pull back in front before the intermission however, with Brody Lamb scoring off an offensive zone faceoff win at 18:49.
Minnesota expanded its lead to two at the 14:07 mark of the second period. Jimmy Clark's pass from below the goal line found Connor Kurth at the top of the crease where he tucked the puck around Hrabal's outstretched pad.
Midway through the third period, UMass began its comeback. Alone in the slot, sophomore Aydar Suniev buried a wrister from freshman Daniel Jencko below the goal line 7:14 into the frame. Junior Lucas Olvestad earned the secondary assist on the play.
Moments later, Jencko redirected in junior Owen Murray's shot from the right point after Murray collected a pass from sophomore Dans Locmelis to tie the score at 3-3 at 8:49.
The Minutemen took their first lead of the night, 4-3, at the 15:07 mark. Dell'Elce beat Souliere through traffic from the top of the left faceoff circle off a feed from junior Kenny Connors and graduate student Joey Musa.
However, the Gophers managed to tie things up at 4-4 just 1:17 later. Collecting the puck off a faceoff win by Oliver Moore, Snuggerud skated to the middle of the ice and fired a shot past Hrabal for his second of the night.
At the 4:49 mark of the extra frame, Locmelis found Suniev at the back post for the tap-in after starting the play from the neutral zone.
The Minutemen out-shot Minnesota 37-29 on the evening and went 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Gophers were 1-for-2.
Hrabal totaled 25 saves for the Minutemen and Souliere finished with 32 stops for Minnesota.
