#2 UNH Downs Pesky UMass-Lowell 5-2
DURHAM, NH - Two Fridays ago, UNH went into the Tsongas Arena on the campus of UMass-Lowell and embarrassed the River Hawks 3-0. On that night, UML was outworked and outhustled in a lackluster performance. A noticeably more determined UML team took to the ice at the Whittemore Center this evening in front of a nearly packed house. The River Hawks took their skating, passing and hitting up a couple of notches but to no avail. The #2 Ranked UNH Wildcats (Overall: 10-1-2; Hockey East: 7-1-1) handed UML (Overall: 4-6-1; Hockey East: 2-5-1) a convincing 5-2 loss.
It all began in the UML zone as the puck was transitioning into neutral ice. First line center Grayson Downing somehow hurt his left leg and could barely limp off the ice as the play continued. It was not obvious from my vantage point what caused the injury but Downing was in trouble. When he got to the UNH bench, he went down on all fours and was in obvious pain. It would take two UNH staff to help him limp down the runway and into the locker room.
In the time it took for Downing to hobble to the bench, UML rushed into the UNH zone. UML gained control of the puck below the goal line and Joe Pendenza made a blind, backhand centering pass into the slot. Shayne Thompson banged home a one-timer with 2 seconds left on the clock. It was the first goal UML had scored against Casey DeSmith in 5 periods.
As the teams awaited the puck drop to begin the 3rd Period, Downing managed to line up for the faceoff but he was clearly favoring his left leg. As the first shift progressed, Downing regained some of his normal mobility. Downing got to rest his leg a little more when matching penalties were called on he and a UML player. For the remainder of the game, Downing did not miss a shift.
UNH fans who watched the Colorado College game last week experienced a touch of deja vu with about 13 minutes left in the 3rd period. UML got to within 2 goals of UNH on a quick play around the UNH net. Casey DeSmith made the initial save on a turnaround shot from the faceoff circle to his left but the puck floated in the air in front of DeSmith. Michael Colantone batted the puck out of midair and past DeSmith. At the time, the shots on goal were even with 30 for each team.
From the 12:00 mark in the 3rd period until the 3:00 mark, Casey DeSmith made a series of clutch saves to maintain UNH's 2-goal lead. In a 15-second spurt with a little less than 10 minutes to play, UML fired three shots at close range and DeSmith saved them all. With 8 minutes remaining, a UML shot went wide of the goal but ricocheted off the back wall and bounced out toward DeSmith. It was eerily similar to the Denver goal which went off the backboards, off DeSmith's skate, and into the net. This time, however, DeSmith covered up the puck with his glove.
UNH's leading goal scorer, senior Austin Block (9th goal of season), drove the final nail into the UML coffin on a borderline brilliant-borderline desperate turnaround shot from the right faceoff circle. Jeff Silengo fed Block high in the slot, Block skated between a couple UML players to the faceoff circle, wheeled and fired. UNH 5, UML 2.
Video highlights of all the goals are available on UNHWildcats.com.
#2 Star - Casey DeSmith ~ Casey DeSmith made 34 saves and looked sharp doing it. It was a critical bounce back performance after his short night against Denver last Saturday.
#3 Star - Austin Block ~ In just 13 games, Senior Austin Block has already scored 9 goals. In his first 3 seasons at UNH, he scored 10 goals combined. ~ Austin Block is the leading goal scorer in Hockey East competition. How many fans would have predicted that before the season began?
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