UConn falls in overtime to Penn State in Allentown Regional final, 3-2

UConn men’s hockey’s dream season ended in overtime of the Allentown Regional Final on Sunday night when Penn State’s Matt DiMarsico buried the winner with 2:06 left in overtime to secure a 3-2 victory. The Huskies out-shot the Nittany Lions 28-13 during the third period and overtime but can’t find the winner to advance to their first Frozen Four in program history.

Joey Muldowney, who was named to the all-region team, scored his 29th goal of the season, while Tabor Heaslip also got on the scoresheet. Callum Tung made 38 saves, including 16 in the first period.

The teams felt each other out early and neither squad could assert any dominance, though the puck spent a bit more time in UConn’s zone than Penn State’s.

However, it was the Huskies that struck first. At 4:56 of the period, Muldowney parked himself in the high slot and took a centering feed from a streaking Jake Richard. The sophomore’s shot stayed low and seemed to fool Arsenii Sergeev, sneaking between his right pad and the post to put UConn up 1-0.

The Nittany Lions took that personally. The hosts of the regional tilted the ice as far as they could in their direction over the rest of the stanza, out-attempting UConn 32-14 and owning significantly more high-danger chances.

Tung had a strong period and dealt with plenty of odd-man rushes, making save after save before the levee broke at the 13:27 mark.

The puck squirted out into the slot after a puck battle below the goal line and Dane Dowiak skated into it and fired it past Tung to ignite a crowd that was begging for a tally.

Penn State didn’t have a size advantage but it did have a speed advantage. The Nittany Lions immediately looked to drive to the net when they got the puck, which caught UConn on the back foot early on. That allowed Penn State to skate right by and created a ton of odd-man rushes.

After Dowiak tied the game, the Huskies started to figure it out and pushed on the forecheck a bit harder to stem the tide, which resulted in a better end to the first period and a stronger start to the second.

The teams opened the middle stanza trading relatively simple chances and neither team established significant zone time until UConn got an extremely fortuitous bounce.

Heaslip, on the left half wall, threw a puck toward the net that bounced off a body and crossed the goal line. At 8:03 of the period, UConn again had the lead and looked poised to make something of the period having figured out Penn State’s game and done a better job of neutralizing it.

However, it took just 30 seconds to go back to square one.

After Tung allowed a rebound on a shot from the right point, Tom Messineo was there to clear it away from the net. However, it only got as far as JJ Wiebusch, who was parked at the right face-off dot and got his shot through a mass of bodies to tie the game at 2-2.

Just 21 seconds after the Nittany Lions goal, Matt DiMarsico committed a cross-checking penalty and sent UConn up a man. While the Huskies didn’t convert, they had solid chances and prevented Penn State from seizing a game that was firmly in the balance.

UConn’s best start came in the third. Most of the game was spent down in its offensive zone and the Huskies consistently foiled the Nittany Lions’ attempts to break out and get behind the defense.

In the third, the shot totals slowed down as each team looked to pick its spots but the pace remained high and the tension in the building grew as the minutes ticked by. Despite that, there wasn’t a go-ahead goal to be found.

UConn came the closest when a Kai Janviriya shot got by Sergeev but the net-minder got enough of it to slow it down and then fell backwards onto it before it crossed the goal line.

The Huskies dominated the period but had nothing to show for it. That sent the game to overtime.

Penn State had the first chances in the extra session but after an initial burst, it looked more like the third period for UConn. An odd-man rush about five minutes in just about ended the game on two separate occasions when Richard’s shot was blocked and ended up on Janviriya’s blade in the left circle. However, his shot hit the pipe and couldn’t find twine.

Later, Muldowney hit the post on a chance in the slot and later had a shot on the doorstep blocked by a defenseman. Hugh Larkin had a great looked turned away by Sergeev’s toe.

Despite piling up the chances, it wasn’t meant to be for the Huskies. Charlie Cerrato found DiMarsico in the center of the ice and he buried the winner that sent Penn State to the Frozen Four and ended UConn’s season.

The Huskies’ historic campaign ends in heartbreak. After setting a program record with 23 victories, reaching the Hockey East championship game, making its first NCAA Tournament ever and winning a game while there, UConn can return to Storrs knowing the program will never be the same.