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Quick Hits: UMass Takes Three Points From #14/15 Merrimack
- UMass took three of four points from #14/15 Merrimack with a 4-4 tie on Friday on the road followed by a 4-1 win over the Warriors on Sunday. Friday’s tie marked the first time the Minutemen had taken a point in Lawler Rink since Feb. 8, 2008.
- The Minutemen scored two power-play goals in a game for the first time this season last Friday, which was also Merrimack’s first time allowing more than one power play goal in a game in 2014-15 after entering the contest with the No. 4-ranked penalty kill in the nation at 90.4%.
- UMass finished the weekend 3-for-12 (25%) with the man advantage against Merrimack. In addition, the Minutemen’s penalty killing unit was successful on 11 of 12 (91.7%) kills vs. the Warriors.
- UMass fired off 42 shots on goal against the Warriors last Friday night, a season high and the most since posting 48 shots on goal on Feb. 7, 2014 at Northeastern.
- Playing in just his ninth career contest, freshman Brandon Montour posted his third multi-point game of the season with a shorthanded goal and an assist. He added a shorthanded assist on Sunday to complete a three-point weekend.
- Montour, who was named the No. 1 star of the game on Friday, has 10 points (2g, 8a) on the year and ranks tied for eighth in the nation for points by a freshman defenseman and leads the nation in points per-game (1.00).
- Montour’s shorthanded goal on Friday night at Merrimack was the team’s fifth of the year and second by a defenseman. Freshman Dominic Trento had a shorthander on Sunday, as well, for the squad’s sixth. The Minutemen are currently tied for second in the nation in shorthanded goals.
- Junior Shane Walsh scored the game-tying goal for UMass at Merrimack, his sixth goal in seven games this month. Walsh had six goals in total in his career over his previous 79 games.
- Redshirt sophomore Frank Vatrano scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season on Friday and fourth power-play goal of the season.
- Sophomore Steven Iacobellis logged a pair of assists against the Warriors on Friday, his fourth multi-point game of the season and ninth of his career. He is tied for third on the team with 18 points on the year (5g, 13a), three shy of his 2013-14 total of 21 points in 34 games.
- Sophomore Brennan Baxandall notched his first career goal to open the scoring on Friday at Merrimack. He has five points (1g, 4a) in 17 games this season.
- Freshman goaltender Henry Dill logged an assist for his first collegiate point and made 33 saves for his sixth game with 30 or more stops this season.
- Freshman Dennis Kravchenko posted his second multi-goal and sixth multi-point effort of the season with a power-play tally and the game winning goal. It marked his first career game winner and second career power-play goal.
- Trento posted his first career multi-point game, both scoring and assisting empty net tallies.
- Patrick Lee (1g), Keith Burchett (1a), Jake Horton (1a) and Montour (1a) all contributed to an eight-point effort from the UMass freshman class, as well in Sunday’s victory.
- In total on the weekend, Minutemen freshmen and sophomores contributed 18 of 21 points and seven of eight goals. All four goals in Sunday’s win were scored by freshmen.
- Senior Steve Mastalerz made a career high 44 saves on Sunday against Merrimack and picked up his first win of the season.
Kravchenko & Montour Recognized Following Merrimack Weekend
- Freshmen Dennis Kravchenko and Brandon Montour both collected weekly honors Jan. 26 following the Minutemen’s three-point Hockey East weekend vs. #14/15 Merrimack.
- Kravchenko became the second UMass freshman to nab a Hockey East Rookie of the Week recognition this season, while Montour was named the UMass Athlete of the Week.
- Kravchenko contributed two goals and an assist with four blocked shots on the weekend vs. the Warriors.
- Montour continued his hot start to his young collegiate career with a goal and two assists on the weekend vs. Merrimack with all three points coming in special teams situations via a shorthanded goal and assist and an assist on the power play. The defenseman was named the No. 1 Star of the game on Friday at Merrimack as his two points (1g, 1a) in the third period helped the Minutemen erase a 3-1 deficit.
- Montour was +2 and had six blocks over the two games.
On The Upswing
- In the nine games since the Holiday Break, UMass holds a record of 4-4-1 after going 4-12-0 in the first half of the season. During that stretch, the Minutemen are scoring 3.1 goals per-game (compared to 2.7 in the first half), while decreasing its goals allowed from 4.7 per-game to 3.1.
- Through the first 16 games, UMass had scored eight power-play goals and has seven through the last nine contests with three of six shorthanded tallies on the year during that span, as well.
- Freshman Brandon Montour has led the squad in scoring during the nine game stretch with 10 points (2g, 8a). Shane Walsh has scored a team-high six goals in those nine games in what has otherwise been a balanced scoring effort. Fifteen Minutemen have combined for UMass’ 28 goals thus far in the second half of the season with six different players accounting for the team’s seven power-play goals during that stretch.
- In games played since Dec. 27, UMass leads the nation in freshmen scoring—points (39), goals (11) and assists (28).
- The Minutemen also lead the nation in points by underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) since Dec. 27 with 58 points, 6.44 per-game.
Yevenko Selected As A Senior CLASS Award Candidate
- UMass hockey senior assistant captain Oleg Yevenko has been selected as one of 20 candidates for the 2014-15 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.
- An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans and the winner will be announced during the 2015 Frozen Four this April.
Walsh Earns Weekly Awards
- Junior forward Shane Walsh was honored as the Hockey East Player of the Week on Jan. 12. It marked the first career weekly accolade for Walsh, who became the third Minuteman to earn a weekly recognition from Hockey East this season.
- Walsh led a third period comeback for UMass on Jan. 9 as the Minutemen rallied for a 3-2 win over Maine in a non-conference matchup with the Black Bears.
- He factored in all three tallies for the Minutemen as he logged a career-high three points with two goals and an assist, including the game winner and first career shorthanded goal. It was Walsh’s first career multi-goal game and second career multi-point game.
- With his three-point performance Walsh set new career highs for goals and tied his career high for points in a season.
- The following week on Jan. 20, Walsh was named the Co-UMass Athlete of the Week after scoring a pair of third period goals in a 6-4 win over New Hampshire, including the game-winning tally. He was named the game’s No. 1 star in that contest as well.
Vatrano Tabbed Hockey East Player Of The Month
- UMass redshirt sophomore Frank Vatrano was named the Hockey East Player of the Month for December, it was announced by the league on Jan 6. It marked the first honor of Vatrano’s career and first of the monthly award of the season for the Minutemen.
- Vatrano tied for the national lead in scoring for the month, amassing nine points on six goals and three assists over five games, including three multi-point efforts, which began with a three point night (2g, 1a) vs. Notre Dame on Dec. 5 to tie a career high.
- His 1.80 points per-game was the highest in the NCAA for the month, while he was just one tally short of the national lead in goals, converting 24% of his shots for the month.
- Vatrano ended December on a three game goal-scoring streak, including two goals and two assists at the Catamount Cup, a performance that landed him on the Catamount Cup All-Tournament Team.
More On Vatrano
- After being held off the scoreboard the first four games of the season, Vatrano has 22 points in 21 games (1.05 points per-game).
- Overall on the year, Vatrano is currently tied for fourth in Hockey East in goals scored (13), tied for sixth in power-play goals (4) and tied for 12th in points (22). He is the league leader in shots on goal (126), an average of 5.04 per-game.
New Kid On The Block
- UMass hockey recently added its 10th member of the freshman class with defenseman Brandon Montour joining the squad from the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL, eligible immediately.
- Montour made his collegiate debut on Dec. 16 vs. Northeastern and finished with two shots and an even rating. He registered his first two career points, a pair of assists, in back-to-back games at the Catamount Cup (12/28-29).
- In July 2014, Montour became the highest draft pick in UMass history (surpassing current Los Angeles Kings’ goaltender Jonathan Quick - third round, 72nd overall in 2005), when the Anaheim Ducks selected him in the second round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft (55th overall).
- The 6-0, 190-pound native of Ohsweken, Ontario, was named both the USHL Defenseman of the Year and USHL Player of the Year in 2013-14 after appearing in all 60 regular season games and totaling 62 points on 14 goals and 48 assists
- Montour finished his USHL career with 83 points on 20 goals and 63 assists over 77 games played (1.08 points per-game), including 21 points (6g, 15a) in 17 games this season.
- Also an accomplished lacrosse player, Montour won a Minto Cup national championship in the summer of 2014 with the Six Nations Arrows.
Young Guns
- UMass’ 10-man freshman class has provided 25 of UMass’ 71 goals on the season through 25 games and 71 of the squad’s 189 points.
- The Minutemen are third in the nation in points by freshmen, fourth in points per-game by freshmen (2.84), fifth in goals and tied for fifth in goals per-game (1.00) by freshmen.
- Individually, Dennis Kravchenko is tied for seventh nationally in points by a freshman (21), tied for seventh in assists (13) and tied for 10th in goals (8) by a freshman. He is fourth in Hockey East in freshman scoring.
- Keith Burchett and Kravchenko have each posted multi-goal games thus far, while logging five and six multi-point efforts, respectively.
- Brandon Montour notched his first career multi-point game on Jan. 2 vs. Connecticut (1g, 1a) and contributed another multi-point effort with two assists vs. UNH on Jan. 16. His third multi-point game came on Jan. 23 at #14/15 Merrimack as he had a shorthanded goal and an assist to earn No. 1 star recognition.
- In the Minutemen’s win at Michigan State on Oct. 18, underclassmen contributed 11 of the team’s 12 points on the night.
- The Minutemen are third nationally in underclassmen scoring with 138 points, fourth in points per-game (5.52), sixth in goals (50) and sixth in goals per-game (2.00). UMass freshmen and sophomores account for 70.4% of the squad’s goals and 73% of the team’s points.
- In UMass’ victory at Michigan State, Lee scored the game winner and also collected a pair of assists for a three-point night, his first three points of his collegiate career. His goal came with just 9.9 seconds remaining in the third period, the latest a game-winning goal has been scored in regulation in the Modern Era of UMass hockey.
Kravchenko In Hockey East
- Through 15 Hockey East games, Freshman Dennis Kravchenko leads the Minutemen in scoring with 14 points, which ranks fourth overall in Hockey East.
- Kravchenko’s eight assists in league action are a squad best, good for tied for seventh in the league, while his six goals in league play tie him with junior Shane Walsh for the team lead and tie him for ninth in Hockey East.
- Among the league’s freshmen in Hockey East games, Kravchenko is second to only Jack Eichel in scoring.
Dill Claims Rookie Accolade
- Freshman goaltender Henry Dill was selected as the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Monday, Oct. 27. It marked the first honor of Dill’s career and the second for the Minutemen from Hockey East this season following sophomore Steven Iacobellis’ Player of the Week nod the previous week.
- In his first two Hockey East starts of his career, Dill made a total of 69 stops over the pair of contests for a .932 save percentage on the weekend to go along with a 2.51 goals-against average to help UMass to a 1-1-0 weekend on the road.
- On Oct. 24, he backstopped the Minutemen to their first Hockey East win of the season, turning aside 42 shots en route to a 3-2 victory over Northeastern and was selected as the No. 1 Star of the Game. His 42 stops were the most by a UMass netminder since Paul Dainton ‘11 made 44 vs. Vermont on Nov. 23, 2010.
Dill’s Debut
- Freshman Henry Dill made his first collegiate start in net for the Minutemen night on Oct. 18 Michigan State and made 28 saves en route to his first collegiate win.
- Dill is the first UMass netminder to win his starting debut since Dan Myers backstopped the Minutemen to a 3-2 win over Sacred Heart on Oct. 13, 2006. He is the first to win a debut on the road since Jonathan Quick picked up a 4-2 win at Clarkson on Oct. 15, 2005.
A Fine Line
- UMass’ line of sophomores Ray Pigozzi, Steven Iacobellis and Patrick Lee had a huge night as the Minutemen defeated Michigan State on Oct. 18. The trio contributed 10 of the Minutemen’s 11 points in the contest, including teaming up for the game-winning goal. Iacobellis finished the evening with four points (2g, 2a), while Pigozzi (3a) and Lee (1g, 2a) had three apiece.
Iacobellis Honored
- Sophomore forward Steven Iacobellis was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on Oct. 20 as well as the co-UMass Athlete of the Week.
- Iacobellis, who earned his first career Hockey East accolade and second career UMass honor, factored in all four of the Minutemen’s goals in a 4-3 come-from-behind win at Michigan State on Oct. 18, posting a career-high four points on two goals and two assists.
-The Port Coquitlam, B.C., native scored the game-tying goal late in the third period and set up the game-winning goal with 9.9 seconds left in regulation. Iacobellis was +3 over the two games against the Spartans and won 21 of 41 faceoffs on the weekend (51.2%), as well.
- Iacobellis became the first Minuteman to win Hockey East Player of the Week since Feb. 4, 2013.
Minutemen Featured In NCAA Plays Of The Week
- The Minutemen made an appearance in the NCAA’s Top 5 Plays of the Week on Dec. 2 with Frank Vatrano’s goal at No. 2, UMass’ third Play of the Week this season.
- UMass hockey owned two of the NCAA’s Top 5 Plays of the Week on Oct. 21, with Jake Horton’s goal at Michigan State coming in at No. 3, and Patrick Lee’s game winning tally coming in at No. 1, the Minutemen’s first-ever No. 1 play.
- Last season, UMass cracked the Top Plays countdown on five occasions.
Youth On Display In Exhibition Win Over Dalhousie
- Four goals from freshmen propelled the UMass hockey team to a 5-2 exhibition win over Dalhousie on Oct. 4 at the Mullins Center. All five tallies by the Minutemen came from underclassmen, including a pair from freshman Dennis Kravchenko.
- Eight of the freshmen who saw action in the contest combined for six of UMass’ 12 points in the contest with goals from Kravchenko, Jake Horton and Dominic Trento and assists from Riley McDougall and Keith Burchett.
- Redshirt sophomore Frank Vatrano, who entered 2014-15 as a relative newcomer after appearing in only one game last season, registered a goal and an assist in the win over Dalhousie.
- Freshman goaltender Henry Dill also made eight saves on nine shots, playing 20 minutes in net for the Minutemen in the contest.
Second Act
- Sophomore Steven Iacobellis is the team’s leading returning scorer from 2013-14 after he became the first UMass true freshman to reach the 10-goal mark in a season since 2014 graduates Michael Pereira and Adam Phillips did so in 2010-11.
- Iacobellis was honored as the team’s 2013-14 Rookie of the Year after he tied for third on the team in scoring with 21 points on 11 goals and 10 assists.
- He saw significant time on both the power play and penalty kill units, tallying six power-play goals (third on the team), one short-handed goal and had two game-winners, as well.
- In 2013-14, Iacobellis ranked fourth among Division I freshmen with 383 faceoff wins and was eighth in faceoff winning percentage (.563, 383-for-680), while finishing the year tied for 16th among the nation’s freshmen in goals scored and third in power-play goals.
Captain Back
- Redshirt senior Troy Power is wearing the captain’s “C” for a second season for the Minutemen in 2014-15, the program’s ninth two-year captain in program history (fourth in the Modern Era) and first since Brett Watson (2008-09, 2009-10).
- Power, who is in his fifth season with UMass as a result of receiving a medical redshirt for 2011-12, is coming off a breakout 2013-14 campaign that saw him log then career highs in points (17) and goals (10) and tie a career best in assists (7).
LaRue And Yevenko Named Alternate Captains
- Seniors Zack LaRue and Oleg Yevenko were named UMass hockey alternate captains for the 2014-15 season, the team announced prior to the squad’s season opener against Boston University.
- The pair played a combined 165 games over three previous seasons with the Minutemen and will bolster the leadership of redshirt senior captain Troy Power.
- “I am excited for and proud of Zach and Oleg,” said head coach John Micheletto. “They’ve approached each day since last season with a positive attitude, competitive spirit and helpfulness. These traits have helped cement the respect of their teammates and put them in a great position to help our captain, Troy Power, lead us to great things this season.”
An Eventful Summer
- Senior defenseman Oleg Yevenko is coming off an eventful summer that saw him face top international competition at the 2014 IIHF World Championship in his hometown of Minsk, Belarus. Yevenko was the only player to participate in the tournament with any NCAA eligibility remaining.
- At the World Championship, Yevenko saw action in all eight of Team Belarus’ contests, playing a total of 142:58 with a time on ice average of 17:52 per-game.
- He logged two assists and was +3 with five shots, helping Belarus reach the quarterfinals with a record of 4-3 in the preliminary round.
- Yevenko also attended Bruins’ Development Camp, his third NHL rookie camp invitation of his career, after going to development camps with the New Jersey Devils in 2013 and the New York Islanders in 2012.
- As a junior in 2013-14, Yevenko appeared in 32 games and recorded one assist and a team-high 63 blocked shots to rank eighth in Hockey East.
Two By Two
- UMass’ freshman class features three pairs of Minutemen who were teammates in juniors: Patrick Lee and Maddison Smiley played together with the Brooks Bandits for three seasons (2011-14), Jake Horton and Henry Dill were teammates with the Aberdeen Wings in 2013-14 and Dennis Kravchenko and Keith Burchett were teammates with the Sioux Falls Stampede in 2013-14.
- Kravchenko was also a teammate of Minuteman senior goaltender Steve Mastalerz for two seasons at Kimball Union Academy where current UMass assistant coach Ryan Miller served as their head coach.
All They Do Is Win, Win, Win
- The freshman class has come to Amherst with quite the reputation of winning as seven individuals (two with the same junior team--Patrick Lee and Maddison Smiley) won a combined three junior league championships, two high school hockey state titles, a Gold medal at the World Junior A Championships, a USA Hockey National Championship and a Canadian National Junior A Championship.
- They not only won titles, but they also played important roles in those championship runs. When Lee and Smiley won back-to-back AJHL league titles as well as the 2013 RBC Cup National championship (Canada’s National Junior A Championship) with the Brooks Bandits, Lee led the squad in postseason scoring in 2013 and Smiley was named the 2013 AJHL Playoff MVP.
- Anthony Petrella was the leading goal scorer (34g) and second in points (66) for Shattuck-St. Mary’s in their USA Hockey National Championship season in 2013-14.
- Dominic Trento collected 2012-13 EJHL Playoffs Most Valuable Player honors after helping the New Jersey Hitmen to the league crown.
- Dennis Kravchenko captained Team USA to the Gold medal at the World Junior A Championships in the Fall of 2013.
- In addition to his Minnesota State AA title in hockey with Benilde-St. Margaret’s in 2011-12, Jake Horton also won a high school state championship in soccer in 2011, scoring goals in all three games of the state tournament.
Success In The Classroom
- Headlined by defenseman Oleg Yevenko’s Top Scholar-Athlete honor and three Academic All-Star Team members, 11 student-athletes from the UMass hockey program were named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team in 2013-14. The honorees achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or better in each of the two academic periods during which they were actively competing.
- Yevenko was one of two individuals recognized as Hockey East’s Top Scholar-Athlete with a perfect 4.0 GPA for the season. He was also one of three Minutemen on the Hockey East Academic All-Star team for top grade point average by position, along with second-time Academic All-Star forward Evan Stack and goaltender Alex Wakaluk. Stack and Wakaluk boasted GPAs of 3.97 and 3.92, respectively.
- The 11 All-Academic Team selections were the most for the program since 2009-10 when a record-tying 13 Minutemen were recognized.
Hitting The Century Mark
- Three Minutemen entered the 2014-15 season on the verge of hitting the century mark in career games played.
- Senior Oleg Yevenko played in his 100th career game at Northeastern on Oct. 24. Steven Guzzo reached the milestone on Oct. 31 at Maine.
- Redshirt senior Troy Power has reached the milestone, as well, playing in his 100th career game on Nov. 21 against Boston College and scoring his first goal of the season in that contest.
Vs. Ranked Teams
- The Minutemen posted their first win over a ranked opponent in 2014-15 on Nov. 28, 3-2 at #14 Quinnipiac and collected three Hockey East points in a weekend vs. #14/15 Merrimack with a 4-4 tie and a 4-1 win over the Warriors on Jan. 23 and Jan. 25, respectively.
- UMass went 2-13-2 against ranked teams in 2013-14 with wins over #13/11 Notre Dame and #12 Northeastern.
- The Minutemen opened up the previous season with five games against ranked foes over its first six contests and went 4-9-2 against ranked teams in 2012-13, including wins over #9 New Hampshire (11/2), #8 Dartmouth (12/31), #2 Boston College (1/18) and #11/9 Boston University (2/1).
- UMass was 7-9-1 against ranked teams in 2011-12 with wins over #1 Boston College (11/15), #17 Yale (12/7), #13 Cornell (12/29), #4 Boston College (1/13), #1 Boston University (2/10, at #11 Maine (2/18) and vs. #12 Merrimack (3/2).
- In 2010-11, the Minutemen posted an 0-16-3 record against ranked teams.
- UMass’ record of 9-8-0 in 2009-10 was the program’s best all-time record against ranked foes. UMass had wins over #2 Boston University (10/18), #9 Yale (11/19), #18/17 Vermont (11/24, 1/23), vs. #18 Union (12/29), a pair over #15 UMass Lowell (1/15-16) and a pair of wins at #17 Maine (3/5-6).
- All-time, UMass is 68-211-27 against ranked opponents including a 6-5-1 record at neutral sites and a 11-31-5 record against non-conference teams.
- UMass posted its fourth-ever win over a #1-ranked team, its first-ever on the road, on Feb. 10, 2012, 3-2 at Boston University. It was the squad’s second over a #1 on the season. On Nov. 5, 2011, the Minutemen earned a 4-2 victory over Boston College in the Mullins Center. Previously, UMass had defeated then #1-ranked Boston University, 5-1, on Nov. 14, 2008 - also at the Mullins Center. The first came in 1994-95 with a 4-2 win over #1 Maine on Jan. 28. In the Modern Era, UMass is 4-14-1 against teams ranked #1.
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