Tigers lose in OT in tourney final

from USCHO

UMass Tops Colorado In OT:Burto Notches Game Winner
Compiled by USCHO Staff

TAMPA, Fla. (Dec. 30) — Massachusetts defeated Colorado College 5-4 in overtime Sunday evening to win the Lightning College Hockey Classic. Matt Burto scored the game winner 1:55 into overtime to propel the Minutemen to their first tournament championship in team history. UMass is now 5-1-1 against nationally ranked opponents this season, and have won their last three games against top-10 teams.

UMass trailed by two goals after the first period, but rallied with three goals in the second period. With the score tied after two periods, UMass took the lead early in the third period on a goal from Cory Quirk. Colorado College answered with a goal of their own to tie the score and set up the game-winner by Burto.

After the Minutemen took a penalty just one minute into the first period, Colorado went to work on the ensuing power play, but was unable to get one past UMass netminder Paul Dainton.

The Tigers struck first five minutes into the opening frame when Jack Hillen skated around a UMass defenseman and fired a shot on goal. The puck hit Dainton on his shoulder and trickled into the net.

The lack of discipline by UMass continued, as the Minutemen took another penalty just after the goal. While on the penalty-kill, Alex Berry had a shorthanded chance as he skated down the right side and shot five-hole on O’Connell, but the Tigers’ goalie closed up his pads to refute the scoring opportunity.

Midway through the period, the Tigers increased the pressure in the Minutemen defensive zone and forced UMass into icing the puck constantly. UMass had a chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a five-on-three power play, but the aggressive penalty killing of the Tigers did not allow the Minutemen to set up their power play, as the Tigers got their sticks in the passing lanes and blocked shot attempts by the UMass defensemen.

The Tigers extended their lead to two when Eric Walsky scored his seventh goal of the season on a great individual effort. Walsky skated into the UMass zone, spun around a UMass defenseman and threw the puck past Dainton.

UMass turned up the heat in the second period, scoring three goals in the middle frame, but a late Tigers’ goal tied it 3-3.

The Minutemen began the period on the power play, and Mike Kostka nearly got UMass on the board when he hit the post after some good puck movement by the UMass power play unit.

Just after the penalty expired, Berry scored his third goal of the season when he ripped a shot from the point that got through traffic and past O’Connell.

The line of Burto, Brian Keane and Scott Crowder put lots of pressure on the Tigers’ defense and threw multiple shots on net throughout the middle stanza.

UMass tied the score with five minutes to play in the frame when Mike Lecomte netted his fifth goal of the season, banging home a rebound. Two minutes later, the Minutemen took their first lead of the game while on a five-on-three power play. P.J. Fenton took a pass and fired a shot from the left faceoff dot that beat O’Connell top corner.

The Tigers answered right back, however, as Chad Rau scored a shorthanded goal just 14 seconds after UMass had taken the lead.

UMass continued their offensive explosion early in the third period, as Cory Quirk scored his sixth goal of the season just 48 seconds into the period to give UMass the 4-3 lead. The Minutemen continued to pressure the Tigers, peppering O’Connell with shots. Burto looked to extend the lead when he streaked down the left side of the ice and deked to the right, but O’Connell made a glove save to keep his team in the game.

After the Minutemen took another penalty, the Tigers scored to tie the game at four when Rau took a pass from the corner of the rink and rocketed a shot that beat Dainton to the right side. The teams traded chances for the rest of the period, but neither squad could score and the game headed into overtime.

Looking to avoid a shootout to decide a winner, the Minutemen set to work in hopes of taking home the Championship trophy. The Tigers opened the overtime with tons of pressure in the UMass end, and Dainton did his best to scramble around the net to prevent the puck from crossing the goal line. The Minutemen ended the game when Marcou took a pass from Lecomte and fired a shot from the right. The initial shot was saved by O’Connell, but he left the rebound out to the left, where Burto crashed in and buried the puck for the game winner.

The Minutemen will take next weekend off before they return to action on January 11 and 12 for a home-and-home series against UNH.

World Arena History

Well, the weekend series against #4 St. Cloud State didn't start off as well as hoped. It's funny how mental lapses can ruin a game. Fortunately, CC didn't lose any ground in the standings and hopefully can rebound tonight. I just remembered today that my first CC games was a loss against St. Cloud up at Clune arena. I remember clearly because I was wondering why the opposing team was wearing Montreal Canadiens jerseys, haha. I was just looking over some of the history of CC and came across some nice pics of the old Broadmoor World Arena/ Broadmoor Ice Palace. I remember walking there in elementary school for field trips. I never did see a CC game there but my parents always talked about the traffic in the Broadmoor neighborhood after the games. This place was one of the premier centers in the country with Cheyenne Canyon in the background. It hosted the NCAA championship 11 times between 1948 and 1969. I really wish The Springs still had something like that, something nationally known, especially for the hockey team. It seems like college hockey is seen (on a national scale anyway) and an east coast sport. Teams like Boston, Maine and UMass seem to get all of the national attention. Even when the WCHA had all final 4 teams, there was not too much in the way of national attention. It's too bad people have so many preconcieved notions about certain things. For example, people here in Nebraska (for the most part) think that it always snows in Colorado and we all go skiing all the time, even though those of us in the Springs know that its usually 50 degrees in the winter. This is probably off the hockey topic but its something that makes me mad. National exposure=top tier recruits and money and fans. If only College hockey could be more known as a national sport, rather than a sport with good east coast teams. That just seems like the way it is. Anyway as for tonight, GO TIGERS!