Brian Schroeder scored 4:03 into overtime, giving the Iona Gaels a 3-2 victory over the Sacred Heart Pioneers in the MAAC quarterfinals.
As the Gaels moved the puck around in the Pioneer zone, Schroeder gathered the rebound of Paul Fisher’s shot that caromed to the blue line. Without wasting any time, Schroeder blasted a shot that beat Pioneer goaltender Eddy Ferhi.
Schroeder’s explanation was straighforward. “It’s overtime, you put the puck on net and see what happens.”
What happened was Schroeder’s second goal of the season, by far the Gaels’ most important.
Iona got on the board first when Ryan Carter took his own rebound and beat Ferhi at 12:56 of the first period.
The Pioneers’ Martin Paquet gave his team a 1-1 tie heading into the first intermission, beating Iona goalie Ben Brady at 19:14.
The Pioneers outshot the Gaels in the second and had the period’s only goal. Les Hrapchak put his team up at 11:38.
The Gaels dominated the third, outshooting the visitors 17-8. Ferhi, however, stood on his head for much of Gael attack, making several spectacular saves.
Nonetheless, Gael defenseman Nathan Lutz found the game-tying answer, notching his seventh of the year at the 15:57 mark. Lutz took the puck and went coast-to-coast, beating the Pioneer netminder through the five-hole for the unassisted score.
The Gaels move on to the semifinals of the Easton/MAAC Hockey Championships on Thursday, March 15, at the UConn Ice Arena. Iona will face the Quinnipiac Braves in the first game, with faceoff at 4:00 p.m.
