LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Massachusetts hockey team fell 3-2 to Omaha in an opening Ice Breaker Tournament overtime matchup plagued by penalties. Despite allowing one Omaha (1-0) power play goal, both sides of UMass (1-1) special teams stepped up to the challenge.
With roughly 1:45 left of the first period and only three seconds to go of the sixth penalty of the afternoon, Lucas Mercuri found the back of the net after the Minutemen fired up offensively and put six shots on Mavericks’ goaltender Simon Latkoczy.
“More shots, more motion,” Kenny Connors said of the power play unit’s improvements. “[Mercuri] does a really good job … communicating really well with his unit. They got some really good things going and we’re just looking to get some shots.”
After linemate and freshman Daniel Jencko’s shot went just wide from Ryan Lautenbach, Mercuri corralled the puck, skating behind the net with his back turned to Latkoczy. Toe dragging his way around, his first shot bounced back. The senior assistant captain took another desperate shot at the net, floating the puck past Latkoczy with three seconds left of UMass’ power play.
“Just a rebound goal,” Mercuri said. “Just lucky to find the back of the net.”
While the power play unit continued to keep itself in control of the puck, UMass’ penalty kill played a sacrificial two minutes on six of seven Maverick power plays.
“I thought we did a good job making it difficult for [Omaha] to enter the zone,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “[I] thought the forecheck was really good, pressure could have been a little better.”
In the third period, the Minutemen kept Omaha in the neutral zone and in its own territory on Cole O’Hara’s faceoff interference penalty.
Due to Aydar Suniev being covered for a majority of the afternoon, his linemate Dans Locmelis was pushed into the sophomore spotlight. To help special teams cage the Mavericks away from UMass territory, Locmelis stayed close in on Omaha, jutting his stick out to poke the puck away and set the Minutemen up to ice it and kill time.
When Omaha skated its way into UMass’ territory, the Minutemen created chaos around goaltender Michael Hrabal who made seven of his 21 saves on the penalty kill. Locmelis continued to stand out between blocking shots and becoming a point of traffic to get through in front of Hrabal, eventually finding breakaway opportunities to give UMass the upper hand with a disadvantage.
The Mavericks, though, found a way to spark momentum with the man advantage at the end of the second period with Jencko in the box for cross-checking. Forward Zach Urdahl hit the back of the net with a strong shot on Hrabal to tie the game 1-1.
“[You] take too many penalties, it’s tough,” Carvel said. “You play well, [but] give the other team 12 minutes of the game on the power play, it’s tough.”
The Minutemen take the ice again Saturday, Oct. 12 to face off against the loser of the tournament’s Air Force vs. Minnesota matchup. Puck drop for third place is set for 4 p.m. PST/7 p.m. EST.
“We’re looking to build on that tomorrow,” Connors said. “Obviously special teams is something we want to work on throughout the season.”
Sydney Ciano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @SydneyCiano.
