AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass hockey team battled to a 2-2 tie against the Northeastern Huskies in front of 5,132 on Saturday night at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen (6-13-4, 5-8-4 HEA) went down 1-0 just 33 seconds into the first period before scoring twice in two minutes to take 2-1 edge. Northeastern fought back, however, with the tying goal three minutes into the second period to force the draw. Chase Langeraap and Michael Pereira scored goals for the Mass Attack, while Wade MacLeod potted a pair for the Huskies (8-10-6, 7-7-5 HEA). Massachusetts will be back in action next weekend when the Minutemen will faceoff with Boston College at 7 PM from Conte Forum.
Paul Dainton got the nod in goal for UMass on Saturday, making 30 saves to help the Minutemen earn a point in the Hockey East standings. Chris Rawlings made 39 stops for Northeastern. The Mass Attack outshot the Huskies 41-32 for the game, including a 20-10 lead in the first period and 8-3 edge in overtime. Massachusetts was 0-for-7 on the man advantage, throwing 12 shots on goal during their man advantages. Northeastern was 0-for-5 on the power play.
Northeastern wasted no time in jumping out to an early 1-0 lead, scoring the game's first goal just 33 seconds into the opening frame. Steve Silva skated the puck into the UMass zone and threw a wrist on goal that Dainton steered to the corner. Tyler McNeely, following the play, hustled to get in behind the Minuteman defenders to get to the loose puck first. McNeely then spotted MacLeod as the third man joining the rush and fed him with a pass in the slot, where MacLeod promptly fired a shot past Dainton for his 12th goal of the season.
Massachusetts answered right back, however, as Chase Langeraap took a feed from Adam Phillips behind the net 1:16 after the MacLeod tally. Langeraap quickly bolted around the other end of the cage to wrap the puck over the goal line before Rawlings could go post to post.
The Minutemen then took their first lead of the night less than two minutes later as Michael Pereira scored his tenth goal of the year off a transition play from the UMass end. Conor Sheary took a pass from Colin Shea exiting the defensive zone. The Mass Attack then went three-on-one towards Rawlings. Sheary sent a pass back to Pereira, who wristed a shot over Rawlings' left shoulder for the score.
Northeastern began the second period outshooting the Minutemen 11-0, and the line of MacLeod, Silva and McNeely hooked up to level the score at two during the third minute of the frame following a tough bounce in the UMass end. The Minutemen tried to clear the puck out of their defensive zone, but the puck hit a body on its way out of the zone and landed just above the faceoff circle. MacLeod picked up the open puck and sent a soft backhand that squirted through Dainton's legs for MacLeod's second goal of the night.
Despite back and forth action throughout a majority of the third period, neither team could bury the go-ahead goal as Northeastern held a slight 6-5 edge in shots. The Minutemen went on an abbreviated five-on-three power play for 45 seconds with 6:31 left in regulation, and UMass tried to set up one-timer opportunities for Phillips and Hanley at the point, but Rawlings was there to turn away the scoring bids.
The Minutemen carried the play in the overtime period, outshooting Northeastern 8-3 and owning most of the scoring chances. Phillips had two opportunities to net the game-winner in the first minute of the extra frame with two hard shots from outside, but neither could get past Rawlings. T.J. Syner had a couple odd-man rushes as the overtime drew to a close, most notably with Michael Pereira with 3:30 to play as Syner was hauled down as he chased a puck headed to the far post.