ORONO, Maine — Cole O’Hara was an important piece to a Massachusetts hockey team comeback in the second period on Saturday.

Coming into the second period, UMass (19-12-3, 12-10-2 Hockey East) was down 2-1 to a hot Maine (22-10-2, 13-10-1 HEA) team. The Minutemen were put on a power play over two minutes into the period. Samuli Niinisaari sent a pass over to Owen Murray. The sophomore defenseman shot the puck at net, but goaltender Abin Boija blocked the puck away. O’Hara caught the puck and shot from his knee, beating Boija as he sprawled across the net.

“Try to get pucks through on the power play,” O’Hara said about his goal. “Luckily [Murray] made a nice shot and it came back out to me which is nice.”

Here's the @cohara19 power-play goal that tied things up at two apiece with defensemen @o_murray10 and Niinisaari collecting the assists ⤵️#NewMass X #Flagship🚩 pic.twitter.com/BJGXjkn8Xn

— UMass Hockey (@UMassHockey) March 10, 2024

The goal was a much needed momentum builder for UMass, especially after it struggled with its power play on Friday.

“I guess I didn’t realize our special teams weren’t very good,” O’Hara said. “So just try to simplify things on our breakouts…..Just try to get pucks in the power play today, luckily one bounced out.”

Two minutes and five seconds later, the sophomore contributed to the Minutemen taking a lead in the second period, their first of the night. O’Hara deked past a Maine defender and held the puck as he skated on the right side of net. He took a shot that did not fool the Black Bears goaltender. Jack Musa did fool Boija, though, as he caught the rebound and sent a hard wrist shot into the wide-open net. The assist gave O’Hara his second point in the second period and a UMass lead.

“[O’Hara] scores on the power play with a wide-open net so I hope he scores that but that was a really beautiful play,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “Used his speed, skill to create a rebound chance for Musa so he was much better than he was last night.”

While the lead did not last for long after the Black Bears scored to tie the game again at three goals apiece, O’Hara helped the Minutemen get back in a game that did not start well for them.

The game did not start O’Hara’s way after he took the first penalty of the night on a roughing call 4:46 into the first period. The penalty led to Maine’s first goal, but he redeemed himself in the next period.

In the third perid, O’Hara added a physical element to his game to attempt to stop the Black Bears’ pressure on the Minutemen. Just a few minutes into the period, O’Hara placed a hard hit along the boards that allowed UMass to take the puck. From that hit, the sophomore added a shot on net but it went to the goaltenders’ chest.

While O’Hara has struggled through parts of the season, he has been a steady contributor for UMass. With the two points on Saturday, he tied his freshman year total in points with 17.

O’Hara has found offensive production through his linemates, Musa and Dans Locmelis. This was prevalent on Saturday as they have bounced off of each other with the second line producing 12 shots on goal.

O’Hara has typically been paired with Kenny Connors on a line for most of his two seasons with UMass. Carvel decided that different lines need a boost so he slotted O’Hara in with the offensively hot freshman.

Connors and O’Hara play on a special teams unit and have continued to bounce off each other in that area.

O’Hara and the Minutemen will travel to Providence to take on the Friars in the Hockey East Quarterfinals on Saturday, March 16. Puck drop is TBD.

Kayla Gregoire can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Kaygregoire.