University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Begins Road-Heavy Stretch at UNH and #13 Merrimack
November 18, 2015 | Hockey
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Quick Hits: Minutemen Edged by Merrimack, Rally to Tie Vermont
- Last weekend the Minutemen played a pair of Hockey East games, hosting #14/13 Merrimack on Friday, what was a 4-2 setback for UMass, and rallying from a 3-0 deficit to tie Vermont 3-3 on the road on Sunday afternoon.
- Freshman Callum Fryer opened the scoring for UMass against the Warriors on Friday with his first collegiate goal.
- Shane Walsh registered his team-leading eighth tally of the season to cap off the scoring for UMass vs. Merrimack, which came on the power play for his second power-play goal of the season and eighth of his career.
- Sophomore Dennis Kravchenko assisted the tally for his team-best sixth power play point of the season.
- Pigozzi, with a goal and an assist, logged his second multi-point game of the season and ninth of his career as he now has at least one point in 10 of UMass' 11 games on the year with a 5-7-12 line. Sophomore Patrick Lee netted his first tally of the year and second of his career on the power play, while Dennis Kravchenko collected his team-leading 10th assist of the season for his 50th career point.
- In Sunday's tie at Vermont, junior Ray Pigozzi scored his second career game-tying goal and second career extra attacker goal as the Minutemen completed their climb out of a 0-3 hole with 40 seconds remaining in regulation.
- With a goal and an assist, Pigozzi logged his second multi-point game of the season and ninth of his career as he now has at least one point in 10 of UMass' 11 games on the year with a 5-7-12 line.
- Sophomore Patrick Lee netted his first tally of the season at Vermont on Sunday and second of his career on the power play
- Kravchenko collected his team-leading 10th assist of the season for his 50th career point vs. the Catamounts, as well, while senior Ben Gallacher celebrated his 100th career college hockey game.
- Freshman Nic Renyard was in net starting for the Minutemen for a fifth consecutive game and made 41 saves, his third 40-save performance of the season.
Timely Minutemen
- UMass has started and finished periods strong thus far this season as 28 of the squad's 41 goals have come in either the last five minutes or the first five minutes of a period. Their totals of 48 goals and 74 points during those spans leads the nation.
- In addition, UMass is outscoring its opponents 23-11 in the third period this season. The squad's 23 third-period goal total ranks No. 1 in the country.
Kravchenko Tabbed Hockey East Player of the Month
- Sophomore forward Dennis Kravchenko was named the Hockey East Player of the Month for October, the league office announced on Nov. 4. It marked Kravchenko's first monthly honor of his career, previously earning Player of the Week recognition back on Oct. 19 and collecting a Hockey East Rookie of the Week accolade once as a freshman in 2014-15.
- Kravchenko tied for the national lead in goals scored for the month of October with seven and added five assists for a team-best 12 points over six games. The Laguna Niguel, Calif., native helped UMass to its best start to a season in the program's Division I history (4-0-1) as the Minutemen finished the month 4-1-1 with their only loss coming to nationally ranked Yale.
- Kravchenko posted four multi-point games out of the six contests for the month including two four-point efforts, one of which included his first collegiate hat trick, vs. Sacred Heart in UMass' home opener on Oct. 16. He won 66 of 119 faceoffs for the month (55.5%) and was +3 with two power-play goals, one game winner and 12 blocks.
- Coming through in the clutch, seven of Kravchenko's 12 points came in the third period in October, which led the nation.
- Kravchenko, who was selected to the All-Tournament Team at the Capital City Classic, became the first UMass player since 1995-96 to score seven goals through the team's first five games.
Dynamic Duo
- Over the past three seasons, a total of 81 games, juniors Steven Iacobellis and Ray Pigozzi have missed just a combined nine contests between them.
- Of the 72 games where they have both been in the lineup, Pigozzi and Iacobellis have been linemates in 51 of those contests, combining for 73 points (25g, 48a).
Clutch Performances From Trento
- Against New Hampshire on Oct. 23, sophomore Dominic Trento scored the game-tying goal with just 2:40 to play in regulation, his first career game-tying goal and first career power-play goal. Then on Nov. 7 he scored his first career game winning goal in a 5-3 victory over Connecticut.
- This season, Trento has assisted game-winning tallies at Colorado College (10/10) and vs. Sacred Heart (10/16), as well.
- In his last 23 games played (since Jan. 16, 2015 vs. New Hampshire), Trento has posted 20 points on nine goals and 11 assists.
- On Nov. 10, he was tabbed the NCAA No. 2 Star of the Week after posting a five-point weekend against UConn with three goals and two assists against the Huskies.
- He was named the Co-UMass Student-Athlete of the Week on Nov. 9 following a five-point weekend against Connecticut.
Minutemen Among the National Leaders
- Eleven games in to its 2015-16 season, UMass ranks among the national leaders in several individual and team categories.
- Sophomore Dennis Kravchenko (8th, 1.55) and freshman Austin Plevy (T-3rd, 1.18) both rank in the top-35 nationally in points per-game.
- Walsh (T-10th, 0.73), Kravchenko (24th, 0.64) both sit in the top-25 for goals per-game. Kravchenko is 18th in assists per-game (0.91), as well.
- Plevy is fifth in the nation in points per-game by rookies and tied for second in game winning goals overall with three.
- Freshman Nic Renyard is tied for 11th in the nation in winning percentage at 4-1-1.
- As a team UMass is 11th in the country for scoring offense (3.73) and ranks tied for eighth in power play percentage (27.0).
Kravchenko Earns Accolade Following Sacred Heart Hat Trick
- On Oct. 19, sophomore Dennis Kravchenko was named the Hockey East Player of the Week, for his first weekly honor of the season and second of his career as he was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week once as a freshman in 2014-15.
- Kravchenko helped the Minutemen to a 5-2 win in their home opener vs. Sacred Heart as he netted a hat trick and contributed an assist for his second four-point effort of the season. The hat trick was the first of his career, while his four points tied a career single game high, first set in the season opener at Colorado College.
- Kravchenko was also tabbed the Co-UMass Student-Athlete of the Week for that performance, as well and earned the award again after tallying a goal and an assist in UMass' thrilling 6-6 tie vs. New Hampshire.
New Tricks
- Austin Plevy and Connecticut's Max Letunov's hat tricks to open the 2015-16 season were the first by rookies in their collegiate debuts since Notre Dame's Anders Lee did so in 2010.
- Plevy's hat trick was the first by a Minuteman since Michael Pereira's vs. Providence on Feb. 11, 2012, at home in the Mullins Center and was the first by a UMass rookie since James Marcou found the back of the Vermont net three times as a freshman on Jan. 25, 2008.
Plevy Rakes in Honors
- Following his five-point weekend with four goals and an assist to open the season, freshman Austin Plevy was named the Co-Hockey East Rookie of the Week and Co-UMass Student-Athlete of the Week on Oct. 12.
- Plevy was also tabbed NCAA Hockey's No. 1 Star of the Week and had the No. 1 play of the week on the NCAA's Top Plays, as well.
- The Langley, British Columbia, native was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces In The Crowd" for that debut performance.
Picking Up Where He Left Off
- Capping off a career high streak of six straight games with a point following a three-point weekend at the Capital City Classic and then tallying his team-leading eighth goal of the season vs. Merrimack this past weekend, Shane Walsh is third on the team in scoring with 12 points (8g, 4a).
- Since Jan. 1, 2015, Walsh has played 29 games and has racked up 27 points during that stretch on 20 goals and seven assists. The senior has produced 55.1% of his career point total over that 29-game span and 76.9% of his career goals total.
Freshmen and Goaltending Contribute to Exhibition Win
- UMass opened up 2015-16 with a 4-0 win over Dalhousie in an exhibition matchup on Oct. 3 at the Mullins Center.
- Four freshmen combined for seven points in the contest as Austin Plevy (1g, 1a), Ivan Chukarov (2a) and Callum Fryer (2a) all logged multi-point efforts in the victory and Ryan Badger tacked on the final goal of the night. Fryer and Plevy were both +3 on the evening, as well.
- In addition, junior captain Steven Iacobellis had a multi-point outing with a goal and an assist.
- All three Minutemen goaltenders split time to combine for the shutout, each playing a period in the contest. Freshman Nic Renyard, sophomore Henry Dill and junior Alex Wakaluk recorded totals of eight, 14 and 11 saves, in the first, second and third periods, respectively.
A Breakout Season for Walsh
- As a junior in 2014-15, Shane Walsh had a breakout season offensively, tripling his career goals total last season. He finished second on the team with 14 tallies and is UMass' leading returning goals scorer for 2015-16.
- The West Roxbury, Mass., native had career high 22 points (14g, 8a) in 36 games and led the Minutemen with three game-winners last season. Remarkably, 12 of Walsh's 14 tallies came in the second half of the season over a span of 18 games and he ranked in the top 25 nationally in goals scored after Jan. 1.
- Among those, Walsh netted one of the most memorable goals in program history, ending the longest game in NCAA Division I Hockey history after 151 minutes, 42 seconds, with the game winner for the Minutemen in the fifth overtime at Notre Dame in the Hockey East Tournament. His stick from that night now resides in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
- Walsh was the Minutemen's 2014-15 co-winner of the Jack Canniff Unsung Hero Award, "given to the UMass player recognized by his teammates to have contributed the most to the team without receiving the recognition that others have."
Among the Nation's Youngest
- With its nine freshman on the roster for 2015-16, UMass is tied for seventh in the nation for the largest freshman class. In total, the squad has 19 freshmen and sophomores, which is the fifth-most by any team in all of Division I hockey.
- The Minutemen also have the fewest seniors of any team in the nation, with only Ben Gallacher and Shane Walsh making up the Class of 2016.
Ready for an Encore
- The Minutemen's freshman class' total of 111 points ranked second in the nation in 2014-15 and third all-time in program history. Within that group, Dennis Kravchenko finished fifth nationally in freshmen scoring individually with 33 points.
- Additionally, the sophomore forwards' 1.94 points/game ranked 12th in the NCAA last season.
Renyard and Plevy Come to Amherst with Hardware
- Freshman goaltender Nic Renyard comes to UMass after a highly successful final campaign of junior hockey that earned him 2015 RBC CJHL national Junior A hockey Player of the Year honors and the 2015 CJHL Top Goaltender Award nationally.
- As a member of the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) in 2014-15, Renyard led the league in wins (30-8-3) and save percentage (.924), while finishing fourth in goals-against average at 2.19. He was tabbed the AJHL Most Valuable Player, earned the league's Top Goalie award, was an All-AJHL honoree and was voted team MVP in 2014-15.
- Austin Plevy won the 2014-15 Ernie Love Trophy, which goes to the AJHL points leader annually. He also led the AJHL in assists in 2014-15 and was named to the AJHL (South) All-Star Team, but was beaten out by Renyard for league MVP honors.
Hitting the Century Mark
- Seniors Shane Walsh and Ben Gallacher entered 2015-16 both nearing the century mark for games played. Walsh played in his 100th game of his UMass career on Oct. 16 vs. Sacred Heart and Gallacher reached the milestone on Nov. 15 at Vermont.
- Gallacher's career games played total includes 76 in two seasons at UMass thus far and 24 in 2011-12 as a freshman at Ohio State.
A Game for the Ages
- In the 2015 Hockey East Tournament, UMass played a three-game series at Notre Dame and posted its first victory in the Hockey East Tournament since 2009, winning the opener, 4-3 in a five overtime marathon contest, but went on to drop the series to the Irish, 2-1.
- The game lasted a total of 151 minutes, 42 seconds and is the longest game in NCAA Division I history. UMass netminder Steve Mastalerz finished the night with 75 saves, a UMass Division I record and only four shy of the program's overall single game record of 79 saves, tying what was then the fifth-most saves in NCAA history. His counterpart, Cal Petersen, broke the NCAA all-time mark with 87 stops as the Minutemen fired off a program record 91 shots on goal.
30 for 24
- In UMass' Feb. 21 win against #12 Providence last season, Dennis Kravchenko tallied a pair of assists to become the fifth Minuteman freshman to reach the 30-point plateau in the program's Hockey East era. His 33 points as a freshman tied for the second-most by a UMass rookie since the Minutemen began play in Hockey East in 1994-95.
- Kravchenko was also the first freshman to lead UMass in scoring since James Marcou in 2007-08 and just the third in the program's Hockey East era.
- Freshman Scoring in Hockey East ERA
1. Stephen Werner (16-22-38, 37 GP - 2002-03)
2. Dennis Kravchenko (10-23-33, 36 GP - 2014-15)
3. Casey Wellman (11-22-33, 39 GP - 2008-09)
4. James Marcou (8-24-32, 36 GP - 2007-08)
5. Matt Anderson (10-21-31, 36 GP - 2002-03)
Kravchenko Makes Splash as a Rookie in Hockey East
- In Hockey East play in 2014-15, Dennis Kravchenko led the Minutemen in scoring as a freshman with 21 points in 22 games, finishing 10th overall in Hockey East.
- Among the league's freshmen in Hockey East games in 2014-15, Kravchenko finished second to only Boston University's Jack Eichel in scoring who was later taken as the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
Mr. Consistent
- Junior Steven Iacobellis, who was named the team's captain back in April, has played in 78 of a possible 81 games thus far through two-plus seasons in a Minutemen uniform, totaling 54 career points on 20 goals and 34 assists.
- As a sophomore in 2014-15, Iacobellis bested his freshman year total with 24 points to rank third on the team, while finishing fourth on the squad in goals (8) and third in assists (16), He has finished in the top-three in scoring for the team in each of his first two UMass campaigns.
- In 2013-14 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.
- 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.
Minutemen Featured in NCAA Plays of the Week
- Picking up where it left off in 2014-15, UMass opened up the 2015-16 season with not only the No. 1 play but also the No. 4 play in this season's first edition of the NCAA's Top 5 Plays of the Week. The Minutemen earned another Play of the Week nod with Dennis Kravchenko's game-winning goal vs. Sacred Heart coming in as the No. 4 play on Oct. 20.
- Freshman Austin Plevy's final goal of his hat trick at Colorado College on Oct. 9 came in at No. 1, while Shane Walsh's rally-sparking goal the following evening was selected as the No. 4 play.
- The Minutemen made an appearance in the NCAA's Top 5 Plays of the Week on Mar. 10, 2015, with Shane Walsh's 5OT game winner at Notre Dame in the Hockey East Tournament coming is as the No. 1 play of the week, UMass fifth Play of the Week of the 2014-15 season.
- UMass hockey owned two of the NCAA's Top 5 Plays of the Week on Oct. 21, 2014, 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.
- In 2013-14 UMass cracked the Top Plays countdown on five occasions.
Vs. Ranked Teams
- Following a loss to #14/13 Merrimack on Nov. 13, UMass is 0-3-0 against ranked teams this season.
- 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. The Minutemen defeated #12/11 UMass Lowell on Feb. 7 for their third victory over a ranked foe this season and tied the #16/15 River Hawks, 3-3 on Feb. 13, before defeating #12 Providence in overtime, 2-1, on Feb. 21.
- 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 opponents 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' 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 70-217-28 against ranked opponents including a 6-6-1 record at neutral sites and a 11-32-5 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.
