After winning against Stonehill on Oct. 5, the University of New Hampshire advanced with a 2-1 overtime win against the Bentley Falcons on Saturday, Oct.12. The Whittemore Center at Key Auto Complex was filled with pink and blue in support of Breast Cancer Awareness and UNH spirit. This game officially starts UNH’s 100th hockey season.
UNH ended the 2023-24 season in a devastating loss against rivals, the University of Maine, in the quarterfinals of the Hockey East tournament. In the offseason, UNH brought on five new players: Freshman defenseman Josh Player, junior Jared Whale (UNH’s starting goalie), senior goalie Rico DiMatteo, and freshman forwards Connor MacPherson and Ryan MacPherson. Ryan MacPherson was also the Philadelphia Flyers’ 2023 draft pick.
This was UNH’s fifth time competing against Bentley, and they were looking for revenge. They last faced off in 2019 losing in a close game that ended in overtime, similar to tonight.
The ‘Cats were first to score with 13:19 left in the period by Ryan Comny assisted by Marty Lavins. Lavins passed the puck to Comny, where the puck bounced off his stick and rolled right past Bentley’s goalie, Connor Hasley. The rink erupted with applause as the ceremonial fish was thrown on the ice and the players celebrated their new lead. The marching band played its celebration song, but the cheers around the rink were louder and the instruments could barely be heard.
Bentley didn’t let UNH go into the second period with the lead, as they responded with a goal of their own with 6:45 left in the period. With the ‘Cats on the powerplay, Kellan Hjartarson passed the puck to the front of the net to Nik Armstrong-Kingkade, allowing him to shoot the puck short-handed between Jared Whale, UNH’s goalie, and the net’s pole. This goal held controversy with UNH fans, as many in the rink thought there should’ve been an icing call. Unfortunately, that call was overturned, and the goal was good.
Whale and his defensemen kept Bentley at bay on a two-person powerplay halfway into the second period. The second period was scoreless, but UNH struggled with staying out of the penalty box.
“He [Jared Whale]’s been so calm. He’s given us confidence,” Captain Alex Gagne said at the end of the second period in an interview with ESPN reporter Natalie Nourey.
While the ‘Cats entered the third period with confidence from a power play, both teams remained scoreless halfway into the period. Whale continued to stay calm and focused.
“It’s mainly just keeping your head in the game. If you always focus on the puck and what’s happening around, it’s easier to get through those stretches that are maybe a bit chaotic,” Whale said when talking about how he stayed calm through each period.
The Falcons saw three penalties in the third period, with UNH staying clean with zero. This led to another scoreless period, and the ‘Cats went into overtime.
45 seconds into the five-minute overtime, UNH gained a two-minute power play from Bentley’s Ethan Leyh slashing. With the entire complex on the edge of their seats, Nick Ring maneuvered around the goalie to score the winning goal a minute and 20 seconds into the power play. The rink burst out in excitement and UNH’s bench leaped to the ice to celebrate Ring and his goal.
UNH Men’s Ice Hockey Coach Michael Sousa said, “We tried to draw up a couple potential plays and one of them was if the puck went to the goal line, for Nick to try to take the puck to the net, which he did.” He said it best, “It was a great play.”
UNH Men’s Hockey games will be featured on ESPN+ this season. Catch the ‘Cats back next weekend, Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at Merrimack on ESPN+.
