LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Massachusetts hockey team salvaged its trip to Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon, defeating Air Force, 5-1. After a deflating overtime loss to Omaha in the first round of the Ice Breaker Tournament, the Minutemen recollected themselves and picked up a morale-boosting win behind two goals from Cole O’Hara and 33 saves from goaltender Michael Hrabal in net.
Leading 1-0 at the midway point of the second period, UMass (2-1) was the beneficiary of a huge mistake on Air Force’s (1-3) behalf. Nolan Cunningham received a two minute minor for hitting Joey Musa from behind, but a review determined that Jasper Lester had made contact with Musa’s head during the play, giving UMass a 5-on-3 and forcing Lester to be disqualified from the game.
Just 13 seconds into the 5-on-3, the Minutemen capitalized on their golden opportunity, as O’Hara buried his first goal of the season from the top of the left faceoff circle, beating Falcon goaltender Guy Blessing over his shoulder.
Because of the five minute major, Air Force was still down a man for the next four minutes. As UMass was pressuring in the offensive zone, Aydar Suniev was called for a tripping penalty, sending the two teams to two minutes of 4-on-4.
Neither team scored during Suniev’s penalty, but as he came out of the box, he quickly found the puck at center ice and skated it into the offensive zone.
Suniev cut across the two Falcon defenders that both played him very passively, which he took advantage of, using the defenseman on the right as a screen and promptly sniping his fifth goal of the season over Blessing’s right shoulder.
Suniev finished the night with a goal and an assist, bringing his point total to six through the first three games.
“He wants to be a difference maker offensively and that’s great, he’s doing that, but he can’t be a difference maker the other way,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “Turnover last night, penalty tonight. I love [Suniev] he’s a great player, but he can’t be ‘give one, take one,’ it’s got to be give us a goal and then make a great play defensively. He’s a driven player, he plays with passion, but we’ve got to tighten his game up.”
Hrabal had another strong game, his second of the weekend, making 33 saves and allowing just one goal which came during an Air Force 5-on-3 power play.
“I thought Michael Hrabal was outstanding, I thought the group played hard; the consolation game is not always easy to get up, but they did, they played a solid 60 minutes,” Carvel said. “I really liked the way we played all weekend. This time of the year, we’re making mistakes that aren’t the usual but there are a lot of positives to be taken away.”
Junior Lucas Ölvestad got his name on the scoresheet for the first time this season, netting the game opening goal just under three minutes into the second period.
The Swedish transfer student picked the puck up in the defensive zone, and noticed that the Falcons were in the midst of a line change. Ölvestad saw a lane through the neutral zone and took it, making a few nice stick handles around Air Force forecheckers.
As he entered the offensive zone, he quickly released an accurate wrist shot that caught Blessing by surprise and beat him over his right shoulder.
Ölvestad has proven himself as a stable defender through his first three games as a Minuteman, but he provided offense on Saturday evening. As a veteran of college hockey, he was happy with the way his team responded after the loss to Omaha on Friday.
“It was just responding after the loss yesterday, proving to ourselves and other people as well that we are a good team that can compete and especially bounce back after a tough loss like that,” Ölvestad said.
Nick VanTassell scored his first goal of the season midway through the third period off of a silky feed from Joey Musa. Kennedy O’Connor got the secondary assist on the goal, all three contributors getting their first points of the season.
UMass will be back out east for its first home-and-home series of the season with Sacred Heart. The two game set will commence on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
Matt Skillings can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @matt_skillings.
