Furious UNE rally results in 5-5 overtime draw with Suffolk

CHARLESTOWN, Mass. -- Behind a string of four unanswered goals, the University of New England men's ice hockey team overcame a three-goal, late-2nd period deficit to skate to a 5-5 overtime tie with Suffolk University in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Saturday night (Dec. 2) at O'Neil Rink.

The Nor'easters trailed 4-1 with less than three minutes left in the middle stanza before starting their comeback. Tyler Seltenreich (2nd-17:55), Tucker Ross (3rd-5:33), Brady Fleurent (3rd-7:43), and Andrew Slotnick (3rd-12:06) flipped the momentum in favor of the visitors.

However, the Rams killed off a penalty just in time to gain an extra attacker and tie things up with 16 seconds on the clock. Tommy Bishop notched his second goal of the contest for the equalizer.

With the decision, UNE moves to 5-3-2 overall (3-3-2 CCC) and Suffolk now stands at 5-5-1 on the year (2-5-1 CCC).

Early on, Joseph Mortillaro opened things up for the hosts, prior to Slotnick and Bishop exchanging goals to make it 2-1 for the Rams after the 1st period. In the 2nd, it was a pair of scores from David Lappin that bumped the cushion up to three.

Between the pipes, Ben Churchfield made 30 saves for the Nor'easters and Michael Levine turned away 41 shots for Suffolk.

Slotnick had a three-point night for the visitors on offense, while Dylan Bengtson and Jeff Eppright each had two assists.

UNE will be back in action Friday (7 p.m.) at home against Western New England University.