Men’s Hockey: UNE lost a wild game in overtime, 8-7, in the national semifinals

BEVERLY, Mass. A wild and crazy NCAA Division III men’s hockey semifinal ended in heartbreak for the University of New England.

Alessio Luciani scored on the power play 6:34 into overtime Friday afternoon, and third-ranked Adrian beat the 10th-ranked Noreasters 8-7 at Endicott Colleges Raymond Bourque Arena.

The Noreasters and Bulldogs traded blows with a spot in Sunday’s championship game at stake. UNE (21-7-2), seeking its first trip to the national finals, led by three goals late in the second period, then pulled away late in the third before retaking the lead. But the Noreasters gave up the tying goal to Adrian (25-4-2) with just over a minute left in regulation.

And then finally came the crushing finish.

I thought last weekend’s game in Utica was a wild game, said UNE coach Kevin Swallow, referring to the Noreasters’ 5-4 overtime win in the quarterfinals. This was twice as wild. Only the momentum is fluctuating and the management changes happened.

And overtime is not commented on.

After overtime, Adrian coach Adam Krug asked after the whistle if he could review the play for a spear penalty. The refs looked at the play and ended up calling Chad Merrell for spearing, which led to a foul and a five-minute power play for the Bulldogs’ first unit.

“The UNE player made a couple of good shots in the javelin, which is a penalty,” Krug said. Given the motion the player made with the club, it fits the definition of a spear. We were pretty confident.

The Bulldogs struck 50 seconds later when Luciani collected a loose puck, dove down to the right side of the crease and then crossed to the far side before sliding the puck in for the game-winning goal.

Swallow again said he had nothing to comment on when asked if he received an explanation for the call from officials.

“When they got the call there, I knew we were in trouble,” he said. Their power is 45%, which is number one in the country. Honestly, on the bench, (thinking) What are you going to do there?

It was a sudden end for the Noreasters after they first looked like they were going to the national final when they built a three-goal lead, then battled back in the third period to keep their hopes alive.

This whole game was just an emotional roller coaster, said junior right winger Dawson Ellis, a former Adrian player whose goal gave UNE its first lead, 3-2. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but we left everything out.

Swallow credited his team for pushing the defending champions to the limit.

Incredible flexibility. Both teams. So are they, he said. We fought back hard. It’s incredible resilience if they take the lead late in the third and we find a way to score two goals and take the lead again. I’m so proud of how the group responded there.

The response started early. Adrian led 2-0, but UNE picked up the pace and scored the next five goals as Garrett Devine scored on the power play in the first period and Alex Sheehy, Ellis, Merrell and Colin Heinold added second period goals to get the Noreasters going. bombarding the Bulldogs with wave after wave of pressure.

I think (the deficit) was probably the best thing to happen,” Swallow said. We talked about maybe they underestimated us and then when they went 2-0 I think it put a little more in their head that they were waiting for Sunday.

Ellis said the rally was a credit to the teams’ mental toughness.

“I think it’s just a character in this group,” Ellis said. We felt we needed a push. We felt we had good pressure. And then they answered.

The Bulldogs came alive and scored the next four goals to take a 6-5 lead. However, the drama was just beginning. Daniel Winslow and Jared Christy scored back-to-back goals with 5:00 and 4:09 left in regulation to give the Noreasters a 7-6 lead, but Ryan Pitoscias’ goal with 1:09 left forced overtime.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Krug, whose team will play in the final Sunday at 7 p.m. against Hobart, which defeated Endicott 3-1 in Friday’s other semifinal. I have never experienced bills like that.

Nobody had.

“It was just a wild, wild game of hockey, one of the wildest games I’ve ever seen,” Swallow said. It was supposed to be entertaining for the fans. It was fun for us. It was a fun game, until the end.

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