Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
BURLINGTON – UMass Amherst scored three unanswered goals in the third period and came back from 3-0 down to earn a 3-3 Hockey East tie with Vermont on Sunday afternoon at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts pushed their record to 3-6-2 (2-2-2 HEA), while the Minutemen currently sit at 6-3-2 (2-2-2 HEA).
Senior captain Yvan Pattyn finished the afternoon with a pair of assists, while rookie Brian Bowen scored his first career goal in the opening period. Vermont posted a season-high 44 shots on goal and had at least 13 shots in each period.
Jonathan Turk opened the scoring at the 14:07 mark of the first period as he picked up a rebound at the left doorstep. Pattyn fired a shot on target from the right point, and after a tip from Tom Forgione, Turk swept the loose puck under Nic Renyard’s pads for a 1-0 lead.
Pattyn was the also catalyst on the Catamounts’ second tally four minutes later as he collected the puck from Mario Puskarich above the right goal line. The captain centered a pass to the edge of the crease for Bowen, who tipped the puck over Renyard’s shoulder to double the lead with his first collegiate tally. Puskarich’s assist was his team-best 11th point of the year.
UVM pushed its advantage to three just 23 seconds into the middle frame. Anthony Petruzzelli fed a pass into the right slot for trailing defenseman Alexx Privitera, and the senior ripped a one-timer into the upper left corner high blocker side on Renyard (41 saves). Privitera’s tally came in his 100th career NCAA game.
Santaguida (34 saves) made a key shorthanded save later in the period on Ben Gallacher during a 2-on-1. Gallagher delayed toward the right faceoff dot but Santaguida deflected his wrist shot over the net. UVM nearly stretched its lead to four on a pair of 2-on-1’s, but missed the net blocker side outside the left post on each chance.
The UMass comeback began at 6:25 of the third period as Patrick Lee one-timed a centering pass from the goal line past Santaguida’s blocker to put the Minutemen on the board. With just under five minutes remaining, defenseman William Lagesson wristed a low shot through traffic from the mid-point into the net to cut Vermont’s advantage to 3-2.
Massachusetts pulled Renyard with exactly 90 seconds left on the clock for an extra attacker, and Ray Pigozzi fired home a rebound glove side from the right doorstep at 19:20 to knot the score and send the game to overtime.
UVM had a pair of quality chances in the first two minutes of the extra session. Brendan Bradley fanned on a bouncing puck with an open net inside the crease with just over a minute elapsed. Forgione then tried to stuff a loose puck inside the left post but Renyard slid the paddle of his stick along the goal line to keep it out.
The Catamounts closed a five-game homestand on Sunday and will hit the road next weekend for a two-game league series against Maine at Alfond Arena on Friday (Nov. 20) at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday (Nov. 21) at 4 p.m. The Friday game will be televised on Fox College Sports. All the action can be heard on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com beginning 30 minutes prior to faceoff with Alastair Ingram and Pavel Navrat ’97 on the call.