Adam Kmetz’s late heroics propelled the UMass club hockey team past Siena 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Mullins Center. The goal, which came with two minutes, 26 seconds remaining, was his fifth of the season.
It was a back and forth contest with each team consistently generating high quality scoring chances. Saints goaltender John Schlegel was strong in defeat, making 43 saves on 46 shots, robbing several Minutemen of would-be goals.
“They’ve got a good goalie,” UMass coach Jamie Magarian said. “And he played a really strong game. He’s got a really strong glove.”
Not to be outdone was Minutemen goaltender Luke Lepine, who stopped 23 of 25 shots to pick up the win in net.
Miguel Rojas led the Minutemen offensively, registering a goal and an assist on the night. He’s been a point per game player for UMass, with ten points in ten contests. Siena was powered by Peter Tasca, who scored both goals for the Saints.
The Saints opened the scoring 13:06 into the first period when Tasca got in behind the Minutemen defense and beat Lepine one-on-one to give Siena a lead. The Minutemen answered with good energy for the rest of the period and tied the game up on the power play when Rojas camped out down low and put home a rebound. Both Brian Collins and Allan Haynes assisted on the play. With just 34 seconds left in the first, Mark Fidler blasted a slap shot from the point bar-down to give UMass a 2-1 lead, with Rojas assisting.
After that, both goaltenders settled into a rhythm, trading saves for much of the second period. At 3:09, though, a long breakout pass from Brian Sisti found Tasca in stride and he converted another breakaway for the Saints to tie the game at 2-2.
The third period belonged entirely to the Minutemen. They outshot Siena 15-7 in the frame and spent most of the period in the offensive zone. But Schlegel remained sturdy, turning away multiple chances, including the save of the day with 6:25 remaining. He sprawled across the crease to make a glove save on his back off a point-blank shot.
The extended UMass pressure eventually proved too much, though, as Kmetz scooped up a loose puck in front of the net and converted for the eventual game winner. Assists were credited to Ryan Daigle and Harris Stone.
The Minutemen were almost doomed by its inability to finish goals and Magarian cited a lack of second chances as the reason for their problems finishing.
“We were creating chances in their zone but we weren’t getting enough second opportunities at the puck,” Magarian said. “It’s ok to get a shot on net but you have to get bodies down there to get secondary chances.”
It was a bounce back win for UMass after a 5-1 loss Friday night to New York University. The Minutemen return to action next weekend with a pair of games, starting Friday night at home against Rensselaer. Puck drop is set for 9 p.m.
Ross Gienieczko can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @RossCollegian.
