Connecticut (1-2-1) used two goals and the game-winning assist from Tim Olsen to shock Massachusetts (3-2-0) in overtime, 3-2, in front of a crowd of 2,038 at the Mullins Center.
With 4.7 seconds to play in overtime, UConn center Chris Uber won the faceoff in the UMass zone to Olsen, who gave it to Cole Koidahl as he skated around behind the circle. Koidahl fired a shot to the net that made it through several players, hit the post and bounced in past goalie Tim Warner.
“We would have been satisfied with a tie in the sense that we really did have a tough week at practice,” UConn coach Bruce Marshall conceded.
The scoring began early as Kevin Jarman was able to find space in front of the Connecticut net and scored a power-play goal on UMass’ first shot of the game, just 51 seconds into the contest. Garrett Summerfield and Marvin Degon were credited with assists on the play.
UConn tied the game three minutes later when J.R. Corkery set up Olsen in front of the crease, and Corkery slid the puck past Warner. Mark Murphy also assisted on the goal.
The two teams struggled to get going offensively for the remainder of the first period and into the beginning of the second, until UMass freshman David Leaderer turned the puck over in transition in the Minuteman zone.
Olsen retrieved the puck off a high bounce and got enough on the puck to make it roll awkwardly past Warner to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead.
UMass battled back with under five minutes to go in the second period when Summerfield took the puck from behind the UConn net and set up an open Matt Burto at the left faceoff circle. Burto skated in unabated, deked UConn goalie Brad Smith and scored with a clean shot through Smith’s legs to tie the score at two.
The Minutemen had an opportunity to establish its talent and take over the game in the third period, when UConn defenseman James Martin was called for interference with 14 minutes to play in regulation.
UMass had its offense set up in the Huskies’ zone through a large portion of the power play, but Smith made save after save to keep the score tied.
“They clearly played with a purpose and played a lot harder than we did,” UMass coach Don Cahoon said. “We played in spurts. There were a few kids who showed up and a bunch of kids who didn’t.”
One of the bright spots for the Minutemen was the play of Warner, who is used in rotation with goalie Gabe Winer. Warner had 33 saves in the game.
Smith had 38 saves in the Connecticut net.
