For two periods, the Massachusetts hockey team was obliterating Rensselaer goaltender Kevin Kurk with a deluge of shots, but could only muster two goals on the feisty junior. Meanwhile, Minuteman goaltender Gabe Winer had surrendered three tallies on a mere six shots on net, as the Engineers took a 3-2 lead entering the third frame.
But UMass Head Coach Don Cahoon had a piece of advice for his young squad.
“One of the objectives was not to play the score but to play the game,” Cahoon said about recovering from the deficit.
And the Maroon and White did just that, as two early third-period lamp-lighters catapulted UMass (1-1-0) to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Engineers. The sophomore tandem of Jeff Lang and Tim Vitek scored 55 seconds apart in the final period to give the Minutemen their much-needed first victory of the season.
Vitek took a cross-ice feed from Lang down the left side, and fired a rocket over the left shoulder of Kurk that proved to be the game-winning goal.
“I put myself in a pretty good position,” Vitek said. “[Kurk] was really leaning on that right post, and that left side was wide open.”
Less than a minute prior to Vitek’s goal, Lang found the back of the net after taking Matt Anderson’s face-off win and wristing the puck top-shelf over Kurk. The two points Lang registered were his first in a UMass uniform after being held scoreless all of last year.
Winer picked up his first career victory despite allowing three goals on 12 shots. Still, Cahoon commended his rookie netminder for keeping focus in a contest in which he saw very little action.
“It was a tough game to play for a goaltender,” Cahoon said. “It was a real mental challenge, probably as difficult as facing a lot of rubber.” Winer made two key stops as well in the final minute after the Engineers pulled Kurk for an extra attacker.
For Rensselaer, the defeat marked its third straight loss after opening the season with a surprising 5-1 victory over Wisconsin. The Engineers dropped an 8-4 decision to UMass-Lowell on Friday night.
“It was pretty obvious we didn’t play a full 60 minutes, especially in the third period where you need to finish strong,” RPI Head Coach Dan Fridgen said.
Renssalaer, however, appeared to be in great shape toward the end of the first period, as they held a 2-0 lead over the Minutemen. Nolan Graham stole an errant pass on the tail end of a UMass power play and broke in alone on Winer. Graham’s wrister clanked off the crossbar, but after a short discussion with the goal judge, referee Conrad Hache ruled the puck had crossed the goal line as well.
The Engineers made it 2-0 when C.J. Hanafin raced down the right side, made a cut past UMass defenseman Marvin Degon, and fired a nifty backhand past the fallen Winer.
Thomas Pock halved the deficit at the 16:39 mark of the first on a laser from just inside the blueline, but RPI brought its lead back to two at 5:53 of the second, as Danny Eberly’s shot from the point caromed off Winer’s pad and into the net.
Nick Kuiper made the score 3-2 just over a minute later with a low shot from the slot.
UMass badly outshot the Engineers throughout the contest, as it registered 41 shots on net to RPI’s 12 attempts. The Maroon and White’s shot output was higher than any of its totals from the 2001-02 season.
“You’re not going to get a shot on net unless you shoot the puck,” Fridgen said. “I think that hopefully our team is realizing that you got to do a better job of getting the puck to the net.”
The Minutemen played the game with only five defensemen, as Craig MacDonald was inserted into the lineup as an extra forward. Cahoon said the decision had more to do with what he had seen in practice from his forwards rather than trying to generate more offensive opportunities. His judgment proved to be beneficial, as MacDonald was inserted on the second line after sophomore Greg Mauldin went down to injury.
“It worked out for us, because when Greg got dinged up, we still had four lines,” Cahoon said.
UMass returns to action next Sunday at the Mullins Center against Nebraska-Omaha.
