UMass got an overtime winner on the power play from defenseman Darren Rowe.
AMHERST – They don’t award assists to coaches in hockey, but if they did, Darren Rowe, the hero of Friday night’s 2-1 University of Massachusetts victory over No. 9 New Hampshire, would like to give one out to coach John Micheletto.
With 1:59 left in overtime, an offensive-zone faceoff to the left of Wildcats goalie Casey DeSmith and his Minutemen on a power play, Micheletto called timeout, busted out the white board and markers, and drew up a play.
Conor Sheary won the faceoff back to Conor Allen, who swung the puck into the far corner to Shane Walsh. As the Wildcats penalty kill shifted to DeSmith’s right, defenseman Rowe darted in toward the left post, took a pass from Walsh and deposited it past a helpless DeSmith to end the game and give the Minutemen their first Hockey East win.
“You ask coaches. There are very rare occasions where what you draw on that board winds up working the way that it does,” Micheletto said. “Fortunately for us tonight, that was one of those rare occasions.”
Rowe was just happy to be able to finish it off.
“I was holding my stick tight,” he said.
The whole UMass team seemed like it was holding its sticks too tight during a third period in which it dominated the flow of play, but saw chance after chance either miss the net or get stymied by DeSmith, who made 34 saves.
“The reason that we had a chance to win is because of our goalie,” New Hampshire coach Dick Umile said. “Especially in the last ten minutes of the third period, we got outcompeted.”
The first period was marked by physical play and a lack of scoring chances. The Mullins Center remained quiet as the 4,876 in attendance had virtually nothing to cheer about on offense or defense.
Just as the crowd was getting ready to close their eyes for an intermission nap, New Hampshire struck with just 34 seconds left. Greg Burke put a rebound past a flailing Kevin Boyle to give the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage headed to the locker room.
“I thought the first period was a little sloppy,” Micheletto said. “Maybe part of it was UNH playing a good road 20 (minutes) in the first period and kind of minimizing the real exciting part of it.”
The second was almost equally sleepy, but the Minutemen evened the score when Steven Guzzo chipped a nifty pass up the right wing to Sheary, who blazed up ice and snapped one past DeSmith with 7:39 to go for his first goal.
“I was in on almost a mini-breakaway with Rocco (Carzo) coming up the left side,” Sheary said. “The D kind of shaded over and I just waited until the puck flattened out and I just ripped it.”
Sheary, regarded as one of UMass’ best offensive weapons entering the season, had just four shots and no goals entering Friday, before breaking through on one of his five shots against New Hampshire.
“I’m not a huge basketball fan, but I know when Allen Iverson was having an off night, he didn’t take fewer shots – he took more shots,” Micheletto said. “When your offensive guys might not be getting the result they are used to, you keep encouraging them to put pucks on the net.”
For the Minutemen, who have let leads slip away multiple times at home, being rewarded for their efforts with a victory was a huge boost.
“It’s nice to get rewards when you deserve rewards. I think (tonight) will be a big reward for our guys,” Micheletto said. “I think we’ve certainly played and graded out well enough that, in my career, that would’ve resulted in a victory prior to tonight.”
They did it without best defenseman Joel Hanley, who missed the game with what Micheletto called a generic upper-body injury. His status is uncertain for Sunday’s trip to No. 1 Boston College, where UMass has lost 12 straight.