PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team picked up a pivotal win on the road at Chatham University on Saturday afternoon, taking down the host Cougars in overtime by a score of 3-2 in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) play.
 
Zac Boyle and Mario Tropea helped lead the Neumann attack with a pair of assists on the day, while the team received goals from Richie Brusco, Tommy Dougherty and Barry Kneedler. For the second straight day, Kyle Pantalone and Tyler Roy shared the goaltending duties, combining for 38 saves in the win.
 
Saturday's contest was extremely similar to Friday's affair at Stevenson, as the first frame came and went with no goals to speak of. That would not mean there weren't some fireworks in the opening 20 minutes though, as Neumann had two big chances to open the scoring. The Knights were given their first opportunity when Dougherty earned a penalty shot at the 13:51 mark of the period. The Cougar net-minder stood tall on the Dougherty attempt though as the game remained scoreless. The Knights' second chance came late in the period, as a five minute major penalty gave them an extended man-advantage. Neumann could not capitalize during the final two minutes of the period on the power-play though, as they took three minutes with the extra-man into the second stanza.
 
The Knights would not be denied to start the second period. Continuing their recent dominance on the power play, the visitors opened the scoring just 2:54 into the period via a Brusco goal to take a 1-0 advantage. The lead would not last long though, as Chatham leveled the contest under a minute later with a goal at 3:41. The Cougars kept their foot on the pedal after tying the game up, out-shooting Neumann by a 15-12 count in the frame and adding a second goal late in the period to take a 2-1 lead into intermission.
 
Needing a goal to bring things back to even, Neumann wasted no time equalizing. Using their red-hot power-play again, the Knights tied things up at two apiece with a goal from Dougherty just 30 seconds into the period. The visitors outshot Chatham 13-9 in the frame, but could not put another puck past the Cougar net-minder as the game moved to overtime still level at 2-2.
 
Just like the third, Neumann came out of the gates in the extra session flying. The Knights ended the matchup just 23 seconds into overtime, as Kneedler played the hero by burying his team-leading 16th goal of the season to give the visitors a huge win in the conference standings.
 
Neumann (8-14-0, 7-8-0 UCHC) will return to the ice next Friday when it heads to Wilkes University for another UCHC contest. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM.