ALBANY — The first to one goal would win, such was the legitimate notion given the nation’s top defensive teams in the country meeting in the East Regional semifinals.
Yet UMass Lowell’s first-goal lead was only a minuscule piece to the 61-minute, 37-second jigsaw on Saturday night at the Times Union Center. The final jewel was applied by junior center Joe Gambardella, who capped a dreamy game by slamming a wrist shot from out in front past star goalie Alex Lyon at 1:37 of overtime for UMass Lowell’s 3-2 win.
UMass Lowell (26-9-5) will play Quinnipiac (30-3-7) at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Times Union Center for the right to play in the Frozen Four in Tampa Bay April 7.
“It’s definitely a good feeling,’’ Gambardella said with a smile before crediting his linemates for the game’s final two goals.
The River Hawks needed Gambardella’s third-period goal after Yale (19-9-4) scored in the final minutes of the first period and again in the second to take a 2-1 lead. It certainly had to leave Yale fans feeling pretty good about their team’s chances with Lyon between the pipes. Yale coach Keith Allain felt pretty good as well.
“They are not a team that has a great history of coming from behind,’’ he said of UMass Lowell.
The River Hawks did, however, have the recent history of beating Providence, 2-1, in three overtimes in the Hockey East tournament semifinals eight days ago. So late Saturday, players joked in the locker room before overtime that perhaps they could take care of business a bit sooner this time.
Gambardella decided it at the 97-second mark when he found himself alone a few skate lengths in front of Lyon. Suddenly the puck was on his stick, flying past Lyon, and setting off a wild celebration near the left-wing boards.
“It tears your heart out every time,’’ Yale center Stu Wilson said a few minutes later.
“It just goes to show you how one little breakdown can end the season,’’ teammate Rob O’Gara added.
Oh, it very well could have been UMass Lowell players feeling the pain of defeat. The River Hawks seemed to be playing on borrowed time by giving Lyon, holding a nation’s-best 1.59 goals against average, a lead with 20:00 to burn. Then Yale came out firing in the opening minutes of the third, taking five of the first six shots.
“We weren’t scared at all,’’ Gambardella said of the third-period deficit. “We knew what we had to do in the third period to get the job done.’’
Whatever that might have been, the River Hawks didn’t seem to be doing it. But they have their own brilliant netminder in senior Kevin Boyle, and when Yale threatened to open up what would have been a gigantic two-goal lead, Boyle made crucial saves, including stopping Joe Snively’s breakaway not even a minute into the period.
“I think I got kind of lucky on that one,’’ Boyle said. “I thought it was in the glove and it really wasn’t.’’
Nor was it in the net. At the 6:12 mark, sophomore left wing C.J. Smith walked in on Lyon, who made the save but left a sizable chunk of the net empty for Gambardella’s rebound.
In the first semifinal, Michael Garteig made 27 saves and Soren Jonzzon scored twice for the top-ranked Bobcats (30-3-7) in a 4-0 victory over RIT (18-15-6).
