University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Hockey Ties Army, 3-3
2/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
WEST POINT, N.Y. (February 18, 2006) – Brad Smith’s (Detroit, Mich.) quick glove propelled the University of Connecticut men’s hockey team to its third consecutive game without a loss as the team tied Army 3-3 at Tate Rink on Saturday night. Smith made a total of 23 saves on the night, maintaining his own personal three-game unbeaten streak. With this tie the Huskies stand at 9-19-2 overall and 8-15-1 in Atlantic Hockey play while the Army Black Knights post a 10-15-7 overall record and 8-10-6 record in the AHA.
Both teams were scoreless through the first period of play. The Huskies took eight shots on goal while the Black Knights took five. Junior Cole Koidahl (Minneapolis, Minn.) came closest to notching a goal in the first stanza when he collected a rebound and shot from the left side of the crease. The puck sailed over the shoulder of Army netminder Brad Roberts, but grazed the post and bounced out.
The game’s scoring began in the second period when junior J.R. Corkery (Salt Lake City, Utah) tallied Connecticut’s first goal at 2:25. Junior Scott McDougall (Mansfield, Conn.) and freshman B.J. Bayers (St. Louis Park, Minn.) assisted on the play that would be the beginning of a scoring spree for both teams.
Freshman Sean Erickson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) took a feed from Koidahl and notched Connecticut’s second goal from the far end of the right face-off circle to bring the Huskies’ lead to 2-0. Five minutes later the Black Knights responded with two consecutive goals of their own.
Ian McDougall, with help from Seth Beamer, put Army on the board at 9:13 with a goal from the left circle. The Black Knights’ second goal of the period came two minutes later off a shot by Casey Bickley from beyond the circles on the left. Tim Manthey and Zach McKelvie assisted on the goal that tied the score at 2-2.
UConn broke the tie at 15:12 with a tally by sophomore John Stockler (Princeton, Minn.). Junior co-captain Matt Scherer (Seattle, Wash.) and Bayers both assisted on the play. In the period, UConn took 14 shots Smith made eight saves.
In the third period, the Black Knights came back to tie the game at three. Bickley took one of Army’s seven shots on goal in the period and found the back of the Husky net. The score would remain tied, sending the game into overtime.
An overtime penalty by Brian Burns (Binghamton, N.Y.) left the Huskies shorthanded on the ice for most of the period. Smith made seven dramatic saves to maintain the Huskies’ current three-game unbeaten streak.
Connecticut will take the ice again on Friday, Feb. 24 when they travel to Bentley to face-off against the Falcons.
