The No. 16 UMass hockey team failed to hold onto a 3-1 third-period lead in its 4-3 shootout loss to UNH on Friday in Durham.
The Wildcats scored twice in less than a minute on goals from Ryan Conmy and Kristaps Skrastins to push the game to extra time, which UNH eventually claimed on a shootout winner from Cy Leclerc.
Friday’s game will go down as a tie in the official standings, so the Minutemen still earned a point in the Hockey East standings.
Aydar Suniev was outstanding for UMass in this one as the sophomore factored into all three goals. Suniev scored the Minutemen’s first two goals, then fed Jack Musa on the power play during the third to put UMass on top 3-1 at 10:54 of the third.
Michael Hrabal posted 28 saves in his second straight loss in net for the Minutemen. The Wildcats’ Jared Whale made 18 saves.
Daniel Jencko, Dans Locmelis, Larry Keenan, Francesco Dell’Elce and Cole O’Hara picked up assists in this one, with O’Hara’s helper extending the junior’s point streak to nine games.
The Minutemen will get a chance at revenge when these two teams meet again Saturday at Mullins Center.