The UMass hockey team squandered a three-goal lead and allowed six unanswered goals, falling 6-3 against Clarkson on Wednesday at Fiserv Forum as part of the Kwik Trip Face-Off in Milwaukee, Wisc.
Ayrton Martino pushed the Clarkson rally ahead of UMass when he scored with 6 minutes, 38 seconds remaining. The Golden Knights (8-8-2) trailed 3-0 at the 11:22 mark of the second period and scored four unanswered goals to make it 4-3.
It didn’t stop there.
Alex Campbell put the dagger in UMass (7-7-3) 3½ minutes later with a Clarkson insurance goal, and Mathieu Gosselin twisted it with a sixth goal at 2:27.
It was the second-most goals UMass allowed all season after giving up seven to both Providence and Boston University in early November.
The Minutemen will face the loser between Wisconsin and Lake Superior State on Thursday. If Wisconsin wins, UMass will face Lake State at 5 p.m., but if the Badgers fall the Minutemen will see them at 8:30 p.m. Wisconsin will play the late game regardless of its result.
The nation’s leading power play staked the Minutemen an early lead. Cole O’Hara scored with the man advantage from Aaron Boehlinger and Ryan Lautenbach 9:23 in. UMass capitalized on a Tommy Pasanen hooking infraction that sent him to the Clarkson penalty box with 13:02 left in the first period. It was O’Hara’s first goal since Oct. 21 against Union.
It was one of few chances for the Minutemen. Clarkson out shot them 15-6 in the opening stanza despite UMass owning a 12-5 advantage from the face off circle.
Josh Nodler doubled UMass’ lead with a rebound finish 3:16 into the second period from Tyson Dyck and Scott Morrow. Dyck assisted a second O’Hara tally pushing the puck backward after shaking a Clarkson defender 5:22 later on the break to make it 3-0. Boehlinger also factored into the scoring.
Clarkson bit back with a Gosselin goal with 6:28 left in the period from Martino, and Martino pulled the Golden Knights back within a goal on a breakaway 3:06 after.
UMass forward Lucas Mercuri appeared to have an insurance goal to make it 4-2 with 8:04 on the clock, but Clarkson challenged the play for goalie interference. It was overturned to leave the Minutemen with just a one-goal cushion. Mercuri’s play came after a UMass five-minute major power play when Pasanen went to the box for boarding.
It proved costly after Anthony Romano knotted the game at 3 with 9:10 left. UMass allowed four goals in the fourth period.
The Minutemen hadn’t played in three weeks and were without leading scorer Kenny Connors and top-end defenseman Ryan Ufko, who are representing the United States at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.