GOTW: Two late goals helps No. 14 UMass Lowell rally past sister-school rival No. 8 UMass, 3-2, in key Hockey East positional game

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LOWELL, MA - FEBRUARY 21: The UMass Lowell River Hawks play host to the UMass Minutemen during NCAA men's hockey at the Tsongas Center on February 21, 2020 in Lowell, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/UMass Lowell Athletics) (Rich Gagnon)
In a game that in no way was easy, Carl Berglund celebrates with UMass Lowell fans after tying the game in the third period. The River Hawks scored twice in the third to rally from a goal down for a 3-2 win over sister-school rival UMass (Photo: Rich Gagnon)

LOWELL, Mass. — Things couldn’t have gone much worse through two periods for No. 14 UMass Lowell as they hosted their sister school, No. 8 Massachusetts.

The Minutemen grossly outshot the River Hawks, 30-11, and worst off Lowell’s offense wasn’t generating any quality opportunities for forty minutes. That was the bad news.

The “good” news, if you can call it that, was that the River Hawks trailed by a single goal, 2-1, entering the third. And two third-period goals by Carl Berglund and Chris Schutz, the later coming with 27.5 seconds left in regulation, gave the River Hawks the improbable victory keeping them firmly planted in the race for first place in Hockey East.

Both UMass schools and Maine, a 6-1 winner over Vermont, are in a three-way tie for second place in Hockey East, four points behind Boston College, which routed Northeastern, 10-1, on Friday.

While Berglund and Schutz were the offensive heroes late, it was goaltender Tyler Wall (38 saves) who was outstanding for Lowell, keeping his team in the game when the players in front of him struggled.

Lowell actually jumped out to a 1-0 lead, scoring on one of only two shots it mustered in the first when Zach Kaiser scored on a partial breakaway at 4:32 of the first.

UMass tied it on John Leonard’s team-leading 21st goal of the season on the power play with 1:33 left in the first. The Minutemen then took the lead on Bobby Trivigno’s one-timer at 11:03 of the second.

For UMass, though, their offense couldn’t solve Wall after that. The two teams rematch in Amherst on Saturday.

Scoreboard  |  PairWise Rankings  |  Standings

No. 11 Penn State 3, No. 18 Minnesota 3 (OT/PSU wins 3v3OT)

After playing to a 3-3 tie through 65 minutes, Alex Limoges goal with 23 seconds left in the 3-on-3 overtime gave the host Penn State the extra point over Minnesota. That single point elevates the Nittany Lions past Minnesota into first place in the Big Ten.

The game featured a crazy third period. Tied at 1 entering the frame, Nick Sucese gave Penn State the lead at 7:03 of the final period. But Ben Meyers and Bryce Brodzinski tallied twice in less than three minutes to give the Golden Gophers their first lead of the game.

Brandon Biro, though, had the answer for Penn State with 5:23 left sending the game to overtime. Penn State had six shots in the five-on-five extra frame for 57 shots in total on the game. Minnesota’s Jack LaFontaine was outstanding finishing with 54 saves.

Penn State is now a point ahead of Minnesota and four points ahead of third place Ohio State, a 1-0 winner over Michigan State on Friday. The Nittany Lions need every point they can get if they hope to win the regular season crown as Saturday is their final game of the season while the six other Big Ten teams will each play twice next weekend.

No. 20 Harvard 5, No. 5 Clarkson 2

It was a night of Jacks for Harvard as Jack Donato scored twice and Jack Drury and Jack Badini each added goals as the Crimson jumped to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, upsetting Clarkson, 5-2.

Combined with Cornell’s 4-0 victory over Yale, Clarkson now trails the Big Red by two points for first place in the ECAC standings. Each teams have three games remaining.

The win for Harvard along with Quinnipiac’s 4-0 loss at Rensselaer moves the Crimson past the Bobcats into third place in the ECAC. A win on Saturday at St. Lawrence could clinch a first-round bye for Harvard in the ECAC playoffs.

Wisconsin 7, No. 9 Arizona State 6

In a crazy outburst of scoring, Roman Ahcan’s third goal of the game with 1:09 remaining in regulation helped elevated Wisconsin to a 7-6 upset of ninth-ranked Arizona State, possibly giving the Badgers a shot of confidence heading into the Big Ten postseason.

Ahcan finished with five points, while ASU’s Johnny Walker scored twice and added two assists himself.

Arizona State overcame a two-goal deficit in the second, evening the score before the end of the frame. The teams then traded goals in the third, each scoring twice to seemingly force overtime.

That just played into Ahcan’s hands as his hat trick goal that provided one final celebration for the Kohl Center crowd.

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