AMHERST, Mass. – Mitchell Chaffee scored the game-winner in double-overtime as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team fell to No. 2 UMass, 5-4, on Friday night in game one of the best two-out-of-three Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal series at the Mullins Center. The No. 8 seed Wildcats fall to 12-14-9 overall, while the No. 1 seed and No. 2 nationally ranked Minutemen improve to 27-8-0 overall.
Senior Chris Miller (Windham, N.H.) scored a career-best two goals, while sophomore goalie Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) posted a career-best 48 saves.
UP NEXT:
The series continues on Saturday, March 16 at 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center. The winner of the series advances to the semifinals at the TD Garden on Friday, March 22.
Chris Miller (Photo by China Wong)
Hockey East Tournament Quarterfinal Series Game #1 Score: #2 UMass 5, New Hampshire 4 (2OT) Records: UNH (12-14-9, 8-10-6 HEA), UMass (27-8-0, 18-6-0 HEA) Location: Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center) Date: Friday, March 15, 2019 Time: 7 p.m. Attendance: 3,076
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first period went scoreless as UNH outshot UMass by a 10-5 margin, while the Wildcats went 0-2 on the power play and the Minutemen went 0-1.
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead just 57 seconds after the opening faceoff of the second period when junior Brendan van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) fired a wrist shot from the slot to the glove side for his 10th goal of the season. Senior captain Marcus Vela (Burnaby, British Columbia) and sophomore Eric MacAdams (Salem, Mass.) each posted an assist on the goal.
Photo by China Wong
Just 48 seconds later, freshman Angus Crookshank (North Vancouver, British Columbia) netted his 10th goal of the season to increase the lead to 2-0. After sophomore Charlie Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) sent a shot to the net, Crookshank pounced on the puck and his shot deflected off the skate of a UMass defenseman and went past goalie Matt Murray. Sophomore Benton Maass (Elk River, Minn.) also tallied an assist on the goal.
Angus Crookshank (Photo by China Wong)
At 12:30, Miller blasted a shot from the right faceoff circle to the stick side of the net to give UNH a 3-0 lead.
With just 55 seconds remaining in the second period, UMass cut the UNH lead to 3-1 when Bobby Trivigno deflected a shot by Jacob Pritchard to the back of the net.
UMass outshot UNH, 15-9, while the Minutemen went 0-1.
At 1:08 of the third period, Philip Lagunov sent a pass from behind the net to Trivigno who tipped it to Pritchard who knocked the puck to the lover glove side of the net.
The Wildcats moved out to a 4-2 advantage at 5:18 when Miller scored his second goal of the game as he fired a shot to the stick side of the net. Freshman Eric Esposito (West Haven, Conn.) and senior Richard Boyd (Delray Beach, Fla.) each tallied an assist on the goal.
(Photo by China Wong)
Trivigno then netted his second goal of the game at 7:50 to cut the UNH lead to 4-3.
The Minutemen tied the game at 4-4 at 11:28 when Cale Makar found the back of the net as he sent a wrist shot to the stick side of the goal.
Neither team was able to score again in the period as the game went to overtime.
UMass outshot UNH, 15-3, in the first overtime.
With 14:51 left in double overtime, Robinson made a big save on a breakaway by Brett Boeing to keep the game tied at 4-4.
Chaffee won the game for the Minutemen with 14:08 remaining in double-overtime when he sent a one-timer to the back of the net.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS Mike Robinson (Photo by China Wong)
UMass outshot UNH by a 53-28 margin.
Robinson made 48 saves, while Murray recorded 11 saves and allowed three saves during the first 32:30 and Philip Linberg allowed one goal and posted 13 saves.
The Wildcats went 0-4 on the power play and the Minutemen went 0-2.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
The two goals by Miller were a career best. He now has three multiple point games.
The Wildcats have played 14 overtime games which are the most in the NCAA this season.
van Riemsdyk now has a career-best 16 points on 10 goals and six assists.
Robinson's 48 saves were a career best.
NORTHEAST REGIONAL TICKETS ON SALE
UNH is hosting the 2019 NCAA Men's Hockey Northeast Regional at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H., on Friday and Saturday, March 29-30. Go here for tickets
STAY CONNECTED
There are numerous ways to stay connected with the UNH men's hockey team. Follow the Wildcats on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
