ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's ice hockey team bounced back in a big way from a tough overtime loss Friday, coming from behind on Saturday afternoon to take home a huge 3-2 overtime victory over visiting Chatham University in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) play.
Nick Martino tallied a goal and an assist for the Knights, while
Luke Croucher scored the game-winner.
Brady Mistler also scored for Neumann and
Kyle Pantalone honored himself on senior day with a 35-save performance to pick up the win in goal.
After honoring its six seniors pregame, the Knights opened Saturday's contest eager to respond after a heartbreaking loss last night to Stevenson. Neumann played a strong first period, but despite seven shots on goal it could not break through with a goal. Pantalone made sure the Cougars did not either though, stopping all 10 shots he faced to send the game to intermission knotted at 0-0.
Chatham took control of the contest in the second stanza, dominating the middle frame with a 19-8 edge in shots. With the ice tilted towards the Neumann end, the Cougars opened the scoring at the 7:07 mark of the frame to take a 1-0 lead. The visitors then doubled their lead six minutes later, taking a 2-0 lead into the third. That advantage could have been even bigger, but 17 saves from Pantalone kept the Knights in the matchup and allowed them the chance at a comeback.
A different Neumann team came out for the third period, ignited by a spark early in the period. Just 2:16 into the frame, a bit of individual stick-handling skill from Martino led to a 2-on-1 for the Knights. After undressing the Chatham defenseman, the freshman forward found a wide open Mistler across the crease and he lit the lamp to make it 2-1. The hosts fired 10 shots on target in the period, but the score remained the same until late in the contest. With under three minutes left to play, again Martino played the hero. This time after taking a pass from
Dexton Mozell, he circled the net and sniped home a seed of a wrist shot from the low slot just under the crossbar to knot the game up a 2-2 with 2:57 left to play. Regulation would finish at the same score as the Knights headed to overtime for the third time in four games.
The extra session did not start well for Neumann, as a holding penalty assessed to Croucher gave the Cougars a 4-on-3 power play just 24 seconds into overtime. Chatham had just one shot on the man-advantage though as an excellent penalty kill from Neumann set the stage for the game-winner. With the penalty expiring,
Richie Brusco picked up a loose puck in his own end and found a streaking Croucher just out of the box behind the Chatham defense for a breakaway. The freshman forward then buried the game-winner with a wrist shot to the upper right corner of the net to set off a celebration in the stands and on the ice as the Knights picked up a big win in the UCHC standings.
Neumann (8-12-1, 5-9-1 UCHC) will hit the road next weekend for a conference game at Manhattanville College on Friday, February 11th. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
