DURHAM - It's so early in the college hockey season -only eight days into official practices - that in most years at this juncture many clubs haven't spent even a spare minute on special teams. At this stage, most coaches are usually still focused on fundamentals, finding chemistry and conditioning.

But this year, with officials cracking down on the clutching and grabbing, and granting players a bit more room to operate in the offensive zone, the University of New Hampshire hockey team took the time to develop a power play and penalty kill that were capable of competing immediately.

"We did spend a good chunk of time on the power play and the penalty kill," said sophomore forward Brett Hemingway, "and I think it paid off."

It sure did. Tenth-ranked New Hampshire tallied four times on the power play against No. 13 Ohio State, converting on more than a third of its 11 extra-man opportunities and marking the unofficial opening of winter at the Whittemore Center by beating the Buckeyes, 5-1, before a crowd of 6,015.

Hemingway (twice), Mark Kolanos and Mike Radja each scored with the 'Cats owning a man advantage, while Preston Callander found the net at five-on-five to help UNH advance to today's final of the two-day Ice Breaker Tournament, when it will take on St. Lawrence at 5 p.m.

The Saints won yesterday's early game, beating St. Cloud State in a shootout after 80 minutes of hockey rendered just one score for each side. St. Lawrence's Mark Wallman was the only player to convert his opportunity in the shootout, though because shootouts don't exist during the regular season, the game will officially count as a tie in the standings.

But the Wildcats' efforts will go for a well-deserved win. UNH didn't dominate, but instead played steadily for 60 minutes and made Jeff Pietrasiak's first start as the team's full-time netminder a successful one. The junior, who was solid in stints spelling Mike Ayers over the last two years, made 17 saves to earn the win while fortifying a defense that denied Ohio State on seven of eight power-play chances.

"I felt real comfortable out there," said Pietrasiak, who made 13 of his stops with the Buckeyes bearing in on power plays. "Especially after we got the first goal, you kind of settle down."

UNH took a lead it would never relinquish when Kolanos, a junior, scored the third goal of his career off a feed from Jacob Micflikier just 5:54 into the game. Micflikier had freed Daniel Winnik's pass from a pair of defenders, then waited for the goalmouth to clear out before sliding a cross-crease setup to Kolanos, who needed only lift the puck into the short side.

The Wildcats outshot the Buckeyes, 10-5, in the first period, but couldn't punch in another score until they were given a peculiar two-man power play to start the second period. Ohio State was late coming out on the ice - Coach John Markell said the officials were banging on the wrong door to alert the team that intermission was over - and the Buckeyes were slapped with a "protocol violation."

The result was a five-on-three, and just 27 seconds after it started, Hemingway stuffed in a Justin Aikins rebound that had bounced off the back boards and UNH had a 2-0 lead.

"I thought it was a bit of a momentum changer," Markell said.

But in a game that saw 33 infractions - 19 for Ohio State, 14 for UNH - it wasn't long before the Buckeyes had opportunities of their own. Three Wildcat penalties put them down two men for 2:52, and though Ohio State couldn't capitalize then, JB Bittner beat Pietrasiak's left pad with a low wrister before one of the sentences had expired, bringing his team within a goal at 2-1.

In a four-minute stretch, UNH saw its 16-5 shot advantage slide away to even. However, as was the case all evening, before one team could build momentum, whistles wiped away any edge in energy. With about 11 minutes to play in the middle frame, the 'Cats were handed a two-man advantage, and though they didn't score then, the swing helped set up Callander's score with 3:38 to go before the break. Off a pinpoint, thread-the-needle feed from Brian Yandle, the captain gave his team a 3-1 lead by firing from the right post.

It stayed that way for most of the third period, until Hemingway slipped his second of the night past Ian Keserich (23 saves) and Radja, a freshman, scored the first of his collegiate career on, what else, a five-on-three opportunity. There were several of those among the 80 minutes the teams totaled in the sin bin, though the Wildcats were both prepared and potent, and went away winners.

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