Some conferences begin tournament play this weekend, where some games can’t end in a tie and there must be a winner. And it took just one day to break the NCAA record for longest game ever played.
Game 1 of the Notre Dame and Massachusetts series in Hockey East began at 7:35 at Compton Ice Arena.After teams combined for six goals in the first 40 minutes, it would take 71:42 before Shane Walsh won the game in the 5th overtime period.
The game was just the third to reach five overtimes, and eclipsed the previous record holder by 80 seconds. That game was during the 2010 ECAS playoffs between Quinnipiac and Union. The Notre Dame- UMass game took so long that it finished 18 minutes before Alaska beat Alaska- Anchorage in the Governor’s Cup in Anchorage.
The game featured a lot scoring chances by both sides during overtime. The biggest chance Notre Dame had came moments before Walsh scored the winner when Mario Lucia had an open net to shoot at, but his stick snapped in half just as a pass was being sent to him.
Seeded fifth in the Hockey East playoffs, Notre Dame was on the positive side of the record books in the loss. Goalie Cal Peterson made 87 saves during the game. Peterson, a Buffalo draft pick, had a stellar performance last week, 55 save outing in the regular season finale against Boston College.
Trailing 3-1 with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, the comeback by the 12th-seeded Minutemen was aided by goaltender Steve Mastalerz. He made 75 saves on the night, including 64 after the second intermission.
One thing that could have helped extend the game for so long was the discipline by both teams. The last penalty of the game was called in the second period at 19:00 when Austin Wuthrich was called for hooking. His penalty helped setup the game-tying goal when Troy Power scored with two seconds left in the second period.
“I’m awfully proud and happy for our guys,” UMass coach John Micheletto said after the game.
“Not only to get the win as the road team in the series, but, to get it the way that we did, obviously, it’s not only a big hockey win. It’s an emotional win. That’s going to hopefully play in our favor. … Right now, just so proud of our guys. Thinking about how we’re going to alter how day schedule tomorrow.”
UMass avenged two regular season losses to Notre Dame by a combined score of 11-5.
His team doesn’t have much time to revel in the historic win, as they gave to get prepared for Game 2 that takes place just over 17 hours after Game 1 ended.
Check out the video below courtesy of Watch ND for highlights of the game.
