Velleca's Goal with Two Seconds Left Gives #4 Merrimack 4-3 Win at UMass
AMHERST, MA – Jeff Velleca (Waterbury, CT) scored with two seconds left in regulation to give #4 Merrimack the 4-3 victory at Massachusetts Saturday night.
Merrimack (15-6-5, 11-5-3 HEA) heads to #9 Lowell for the first of three huge games with the River Hawks beginning next Friday at 7 pm. The Warriors are tied with Boston College for third place in Hockey East and trail Lowell by one point for second.
Velleca, who had two goals and an assist in the win, gathered a rebound off a shot from Kyle Bigos (Upland, CA). He dribbled behind the net and came out in front of Steve Mastalerz on his forehand and fired a wrister over the freshman goaltender at 19:58. Mike Collins (Boston, MA) also had an assist on the game-winner, his second of the game.
Now 7-2-1 on the road in Hockey East games, Merrimack handed the Minutemen just its second home loss of the season. It marked the third straight time the Warriors have prevailed at the Mullins Center.
Ryan Flanigan (Rochester, NY) and Josh Myers (Colorado Springs, CO) scored for the Warriors in the first, but Troy Power and Conor Sheary responded for the Minutemen as the teams were tied at two after 20 minutes.
Flanigan beat Mastalerz over the glove at 3:25 for his eighth of the year, taking feeds from Velleca and Jesse Todd (Calgary, AB). After Power capitalized on a Merrimack turnover at 4:30, Myers answered 20 seconds later as his wrister from the blue line snuck by the right pad of Mastalerz for his third of the year. Sheary tied the game at 16:13 during a delayed penalty, finding a loose puck in Joe Cannata's (Wakefield, MA) crease and knocking it home for his ninth of the season.
Despite getting outshot 14-7 in the second, the Warriors took the lead as Velleca netted his fifth of the year at 15:37. Flanigan worked the puck up ice to Todd, who threw it on net from the corner. The rebound went right to Velleca in front of the net, and the senior turned around and fired it home to regain the lead for the visitors.
After Merrimack was assessed a five minute major for checking from behind, the Minutemen tied it up as Joel Hanley knocked in a loose puck in the crease at 1:06 for his third of the year. The Warriors did manage to kill the final 4:35 of the major.
Never trailing in the win, Merrimack outshot UMass 11-5 in the third before Velleca sealed it, tying a career-high with two goals in the win.
The newly-formed senior line of Velleca, Todd and Flanigan combined for three goals and seven points in the victory.
Cannata finished with 25 saves in the win, including 14 in the second as UMass outshot the Warriors 28-27.
UMass finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Warriors were 0-for-2.
Merrimack and UMass conclude the season series with a pair of games on the final weekend of the season (March 2-3) with the first game of the weekend at Lawler.
