University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
20-16-0
Massachusetts
22-12-2
Championship Heartbreak for UConn in Hockey East Final
3/19/2022 11:20:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
BOSTON, Mass. – UMass defenseman Aaron Bohlinger scored the game-winner 3:06 into overtime to deal UConn a 2-1 loss in the Hockey East Championship game at TD Garden in Boston Saturday night.
The Huskies season comes to a close with the loss as they finish 20-16-0 on the season. In their eighth season in Hockey East, the Huskies won advanced to the program's first championship game. UConn's 20 wins marks their highest win total since their 20 wins in the 1998-99 season.
UConn junior Vladislav Firstov (Yaroslavl, Russia) and sophomore John Spetz (Oak Ridge, N.J.) were named to the Hockey East All-Tournament team.
Firstov scored the game's first goal and his third of the tournament at 2:25 in the second period. UMass tied it up at 16:06 in the second on Bobby Trivigno's 20th goal of the season.
After a scoreless third, UMass won it in the extra session just 3:06 in. UMass goaltender Matt Murray made 19 saves to earn the win while the Minutemen held a 33-20 shot edge.
UConn goaltender Darion Hanson (East Bethel, Minn.) stopped 31 for the Huskies. Both teams finished 0-for-1 on the power play.
1st Period:
A scoreless first saw UMass put 10 shots on the board to three for the Huskies. UConn killed off the only UMass power play chance in the game in the first period.
2nd Period:
Firstov scored his 12th goal of the season to give UConn a 1-0 lead for the third-straight playoff game. Spetz fired from outside the right circle and Firstov got a redirect past Murray for a 1-0 lead.
UMass was able to pull even at 16:06 as Conlin Felix sprung Trivigno up the left wing, breaking in on Hanson and snapped a shot past the goaltender to tied the game up at 1-1.
3rd Period:
UMass had the clamps on defensively in the third, holding the Huskies to just two shots but managed to get just seven through on Hanson as the game headed to overtime.
OT:
The puck came out of the right corner up to Bohlinger at the point. The Minutemen got traffic in front of Hanson and Bohlinger whipped a shot on net that had eyes and found its way through for the game-winner.
