ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team fell in heartbreaking fashion on Friday night, suffering a 5-4 overtime setback to visiting Stevenson University in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action.
Cameron Hatziioannou paced the Knights with a pair of assists in the evening, while Pasquale Demetrio, Joe DiGulio,
Evan Hoey and
Nick Martino all found the back of the net.
Cal Ambrose was strong in goal, stopping 21 shots in the loss.
Looking to win its second contest in a row, Neumann played with energy from the opening whistle. Despite outshooting the Mustangs 18-10 in the first frame though, the Knights would find themselves down early. Stevenson banged home a loose puck in the crease just 2:17 into the game to take 1-0 lead, then doubled the advantage at the 16:51 mark to lead by a score of 2-0. Neumann's persistence in getting shots to the net finally paid off late in the period, as the hosts broke through with 1:14 left to play to make it 2-1 moving to intermission. The goal was setup by a great rush from Hatziioannou, who streaked down the left wing before dangling around a Mustang defender and dishing a perfect pass to Demetrio, who banged home his second goal in as many games to bring the deficit to one.
Neumann continued to dominate the shot count, but again Stevenson hit on the counter early in the period to regain a two-goal edge at 3-1. After a Knight defender lost a puck at the blue-line of the offensive zone, a Mustang player skated all the way down the ice on a breakaway and made no mistake. The hosts would be undeterred by the misfortune however, clawing their way back late in the frame with an absolute snipe from DiGulio. The junior forward took a stretch pass from his own end and blazed down the right wing before wiring a puck over the Stevenson goaltender's shoulder and into the top left corner of the net to make it 3-2 with 6:10 left to play in the period. The game looked to be heading to the third at the same scoreline, but a bit of Martino magic leveled the matchup just before the stanza expired. The freshman forward took a pass in the neutral zone, chipped the puck past a Mustang defender at the blue-line and scored on the ensuing breakaway to make it 3-3 with just 4.5 seconds left in the period.
Using momentum gained from the late goals in the second, the Knights didn't have to wait long in the third to take their first lead. Thanks to a seeing-eye shot from the left circle by Hoey that found it's way past the Mustang net-minder, Neumann took a 4-3 lead just 36 seconds after the return to action. The hosts protected the slim advantage for much of the period, but late in the contest Stevenson began to control the play. The visitors cashed in on an equalizer with 7:40 remaining to send the game to overtime with the score 4-4.
Both teams generated chances in the 3-on-3 overtime, but for the second time in three games, Neumann would find itself on the wrong end of the game's result in the extra session. After pressing forward in an attempt to find a winning goal, the Knights left themselves susceptible to an odd-man rush the other way and Stevenson made them pay. The Mustangs lit the lamp via a 2-on-1 to clinch the 5-4 overtime victory.
Neumann (7-12-1, 4-9-1 UCHC) will hope to play with the same type of tenacity in tomorrow's game versus Chatham University on senior day. Puck-drop is scheduled for 4:00 PM and the Knights' six seniors will be honored prior to the contest.
