AMHERST – It was a battle right to the very end in the No. 17 UMass hockey team’s 3-2 shootout win over No. 16 UMass Lowell on Thursday night at the Mullins Center.

Junior Cole O’Hara and sophomore Dans Locmelis scored in the shootout as the Minutemen grabbed the extra point in the Hockey East standings. Thursday’s result goes down as a tie in the official records.

“It’s the usual for a UMass Amherst-UMass Lowell game,” UMass head coach Greg Carvel said. “Tight game, two teams fighting for the same spot in the polls and rankings and Hockey East.”

The Minutemen (17-12-4) erased a pair of one-goal deficits on regulation goals from junior Lucas Olvestad and O’Hara, while sophomore goalie Michael Hrabal recorded 22 saves across the four frames.

O’Hara’s marker extended his point streak to 11 games, which tied the UMass program record with Tim Turner, who reached the feat in the 2002-03 season.

“Just little details away from the rink,” O’Hara said on what he attributes his consistency to this season. “Just honed in, leaving nothing to chance this year, that’s the biggest thing. Just little details and little routines I’ve found myself getting into, stuck through it the whole year.”

The Nashville Predators draft pick brought UMass back even, 2-2, midway through the third period on its third power play of the game (1-for-3). O’Hara kept the bouncing puck in the offensive zone, carried the puck into the slot, then skated right on goal, but UML goalie Beni Halasz made the first stop. O’Hara didn’t quit on the play though as No. 19 picked up the rebound and executed a clean wraparound for the equalizer at 9 minutes, 13 seconds of the third.

“I liked the way were playing, we were getting some chances. It felt like we were getting momentum, so it wasn’t necessarily a do-or-die,” Carvel said on O’Hara’s goal. “I thought our power play was really good tonight. First period, [O’Hara] misses a wide-open net, second period we hit the bar, third period we score so, power play was definitely a big factor tonight.”

The first-line winger’s tally highlighted his ability to completely take over a shift with smart plays and impressive skill. O’Hara improved to 19 goals on the season with his momentous goal.

“Power play was good all day today,” O’Hara said. “We just got one at the end.”

Seniors Lucas Mercuri and Ryan Lautenbach, junior Kenny Connors and sophomore Aydar Suniev all picked up assists.

The River Hawks (15-12-4) kicked off the scoring with a goal less than halfway through the first period. Dillan Bentley converted on a UML 2-on-1 to put the cross-state rivals ahead, 1-0.

Olvestad responded with his fourth goal of the season less than three minutes later. The transfer from Denver unleashed a bullet from the point that helped swing the momentum back in Minutemen’s favor at 1-1.

“We had a good start to that game so I feel like just getting back that momentum pretty quickly was pretty big,” Olvestad said.

The River Hawks won the slogfest that was the second period with a goal late in the second. The puck changed direction off Stefan Owens’ body on a long-range shot from Jack Robilotti as UML regained the lead at 2-1 at1 5:14. 

Both teams combined for 11 shots in the second period.

UMass forced extra time with O’Hara’s brilliant equalizer during the third and should have won it in overtime. The Minutemen held possession for the bulk of the five-minute period and nearly scored on a 2-on-1 of their own that Halasz stopped on a net-front redirection from freshman Larry Keenan.

Hrabal also got better as the game progressed and made multiple high-pressure saves (five total) in OT. The netminder property of the Utah Hockey Club then turned aside two of UML’s three skaters in the shootout en route to the victory.

“It’s huge,” Olvestad said on seeing Hrabal make big saves in OT. “Kind of just that momentum, we talked about earlier, gives everyone a bit of energy. We’re extra confident with him back there.”

Both teams will have a day to catch their breath before the second game of the series takes place in Lowell on Saturday. 

Puck drop at Tsongas Center is set for 6:05 p.m.