HARTFORD, Conn. – The Trinity College Men's Hockey team outlasted visiting University of Massachusetts-Boston, 4-3, in overtime, in a non-conference battle at Koeppel Sports Center Saturday afternoon. The Bantams rise at 4-0 on the season, while the Beacons dip to 3-5-1 overall.
The Beacons had a chance to crack the scoreboard in the fourth minute of action as sophomore Jude Kurtas grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone, leading to a breakaway chance, but his attempt from denied by Trinity sophomore goalie Devon Bobak to preserve the scoreless game. Bobak came up big again with 11:50 remaining in the 1st period, stopping a shot from UMB sophomore Jazz Krivtov on the doorstep of the goal to keep it 0-0.
With 11:08 to play in the first period, Beacons junior Micheal Krupinski fired a shot on net from the point, which was denied, but the rebound landed at the stick of first year Jack Ford, who beat Bobak to an open stick side net, giving UMass-Boston a 1-0 lead.
The Bantams found the equalizer as the clock ticked under two minutes to play in the period. First year James Barbour secured the puck in the neutral zone and drove to the Beacons net, where he linked up with senior Christian Hayes, who beat the goaltender with a backhand finish to even the game at 1-1.
Trinity had a big second period to pull ahead, first killing off a five-minute penalty in opening minutes of the frame. With 10:16 on the clock, Hayes fired a shot on net, but Beacons first year goaltender Antonio Tarantino was unable to hang onto the puck, allowing Trinity first year Connor Sedlak to lift a shot to the back of the net, giving the Bantams the 2-1 lead.
With 3:06 remaining in the period, the Trinity power play capitalized on a Beacons penalty, as senior Jax Murray worked the puck behind the net to classmate Devon Tongue, who found junior Richard Boysen in front of the net for the one-time finish, extending the Bantams lead to 3-1 after two periods.
In the 13th minute of the third period, the Beacons trimmed the deficit to 3-2 as first year Jack Mortson knocked in the rebound on a saved shot from freshman Zander Lizotte. With 3:16 left to play, UMass-Boston evened the score first years Jakob Teply and Chris Merryman worked the puck through the Bantams zone and found classmate Chris Repmann, who placed a shot past Bobak, sending the game to overtime tied at 3-3.
The overtime period was short-lived as the Bantams won the opening puck drop from Sedlak and quickly moved into the Beacons zone. Senior Ned Blanchard took the puck in the neutral zone and broke towards the UMB net on a 2-on-1 advantage with classmate Kyle Tomaso. Blanchard threaded a pass by a defender to the stick of Tomaso, who chipped a shot past Tarantino to send Trinity to the 4-3 victory.
"I think [UMass-Boston] is good, so it's a good win for us," said Trinity Head Coach Matthew Greason. "I we played a good middle 50 [minutes] of the game, we had some trouble getting started. The margin for error in college hockey is so small and each team needs to learn that, and we learned that today. We were very much in control of the game, and then a slight lull put the game in jeopardy. We have a good group and they were able to reset [for overtime]. There was a lot of chatter on the bench, keeping teammates engaged, more so than I remember in a lot of years, and that's what a good team needs to do. We expect more of the same tomorrow [against Curry], they're head coach is our old assistant and one of my closest friends in the sport, so they are going to come to play and we'll need to rise to the occasion."
The Beacons edged the Bantams in the shot column, 26-25, while Trinity controlled the faceoff circle, 34-27, during the game. Bobak registered a season-high 23 saves for the Bantams in the win, while Tarantino stopped 21 shots for UMass-Boston.
The Bantams will be back on the ice tomorrow when they welcome Curry College to the Koeppel Sports Center Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3:00 p.m.
TRINITY ATHLETICS
