Senior Gavin Bayreuther hit the 100-point mark for his career with a goal and an assist that helped the No. 19 St. Lawrence men’s hockey team erase an early two-goal deficit and tie the University of Massachusetts 2-2 in consolation game of the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The Saints edged UMass in a shootout to clinch third place as Mike Marnell and Drew Smolcynski scored on their shootout attempts and Kyle Hayton stopped five-of-six attempts by the Minutemen for St. Lawrence. Smolcynski’s goal served as the game winner.
First-year forward Carson Gicewicz netted the game-tying goal at the 11:47 mark of the third period to force overtime and Hayton made eight saves in the overtime period, including six with the Minutemen on the power play for the first three and half minutes of OT after Nolan Gluchowski was assessed a major penalty with just over 1:30 to play in regulation.
UMass opened up a two-goal lead with a goal by Niko Hildenbrand in the first period and a power-play goal by Austin Plevy early in the middle frame. But a power play opportunity at the midway point of the second sparked the Saints offense for the comeback.
Gluchowski and Ben Finkelstein set up Bayreuther with the man advantage for a one-time blast from the top of the right circle that froze UMass netminder Ryan Wischow and cut the deficit to 2-1.
Midway through the third, Gicewicz pulled the Saints even at 2-2 when he deposited the rebound from a shot by Bayreuther behind Wischow at the side of the net for his fourth of the year. Senior captain Alexander Dahl also assisted on the play.
The shifts following the tying goal were all St. Lawrence, with nearly two minutes of sustained pressure in the UMass zone as momentum swung back to the Scarlet and Brown in the final minutes of the period.
Gluchowski’s major with 1:23 to play in regulation was a setback for St. Lawrence, particularly being shorthanded in a sudden death overtime scenario, but they weathered the storm to force their second overtime game of the tournament.
Hayton made six saves on the five-minute UMass power play and made 8 saves in the overtime to hang on for the tie and help the Saints finish the month of November unbeaten.
The Saints are now 8-4-4 overall while UMass is 3-7-2. Ryan Wischow finished with 26 saves for the Minutemen, while Hayton stopped 35 for St. Lawrence.
St. Lawrence travels back to the States Sunday morning and will host Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend at Appleton Arena.
