University of Massachusets Athletics
Massachusetts Faces Tough Test At #3 Boston College Tuesday
November 02, 2015 | Hockey
| Massachusetts (4-1-1, 0-0-1 HEA) at #3 Boston College (5-1-0, 0-0-0 HEA) |
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| Date | Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. (EST) |
| Location | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | Kelley Rink (7,884) |
| Tickets | 617-552-GoBC (4622) |  Buy Tickets |
| TV | None |
| Radio |  WHMP (AM 1400/1240/FM 96.9) | Download TuneIn App |
| Online Video | BCEagles.tv |
| Promotions/Special Events | None |
| Live Stats | Sidearm |
| Social Media |
@UMassAthletics | @UMassHockey |
| Game Notes | Massachusetts Notes | Boston College Notes |
Quick Hits: Minutemen Split at Capital City Classic
- At the Capital City Classic last weekend, the Minutemen split their two games, defeating Maine 5-4 in overtime in a non-conference matchup against the Black Bears before falling to #13/15 Yale, 6-1 in the tournament championship.
- Sophomore Dennis Kravchenko (2g), senior Shane Walsh (1g, 1a) and sophomore Keith Burchett (1g, 1a) all had multi-point efforts for UMass in the victory over Maine on Friday. Burchett’s marked his second multi-point game of his career, tying a single-game career high.
- Kravchenko’s was his fourth multi-point game in the first five contests to open the season and his second multi-goal game. His seven goals in five games were the most by a UMass player since Rob Bonneau began 1995-96 with seven goals in five games and a line of 7-4-11.
- Kravchenko has a team-leading 12 points on the year (7g, 5a), all which came over the Minutemen’s first five games to open the season as he was held off the score sheet vs. Yale last Saturday. The sophomore represented UMass on the Capital City Classic All-Tournament Team.
- Walsh, junior Ray Pigozzi and junior Steven Iacobellis all extended their point scoring streaks to six games over the weekend. In addtion, Walsh a three-game goal scoring streak.
- After tallying an assist in Friday’s win over Maine, sophomore Dominic Trento saw his five-game point streak come to an end vs. Yale.
- Pigozzi’s game-winner against Maine on Friday marked his third of his career and first in overtime.
Dynamic Duo
- Over the past three seasons, a total of 76 games, juniors Steven Iacobellis and Ray Pigozzi have missed just a combined eight contests between them.
- Of the 68 games where they have both been in the lineup, Pigozzi and Iacobellis have been linemates in 47 of those contests, combining for 67 points (24g, 43a).
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.
- This season, Trento has assisted game-winning tallies at Colorado College (10/10) and vs. Sacred Heart (10/16), with the game-tying goal vs. New Hampshire (10/23).
- In his last 18 games played (since Jan. 16, 2015 vs. New Hampshire), Trento has posted 14 points on six goals and eight assists.
Minutemen Among the National Leaders
- Four-plus weeks into the 2015-16 season, UMass ranks among the national leaders in several individual and team categories.
- Sophomore Dennis Kravchenko (t-5th, 2.00 ppg) and senior Shane Walsh (13th, 1.67 ppg) rank in the top-15 for points per-game. Kravchenko is second nationally in goals per-game (1.20) and Walsh is tied for third (1.00). - Junior Steven Iacobellis is tied for 12th in assists per-game (1.00).
- Freshman Austin Plevy is tied for seventh in points per-game by rookies (1.33).
- As a team UMass is tied for fifth in the country for scoring offense (4.50) and power play percentage (33.3).
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 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
- After stretching his streak to six straight games with a point following a three-point weekend at the Capital City Classic, Shane Walsh is second on the team in scoring with 10 points (6g, 4a).
- Since Jan. 1, 2015, Walsh has played 24 games and has racked up 25 points during that stretch on 18 goals and seven assists. The senior has produced 53.2% of his career point total over that 24-game span and 75% 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 2014-15, 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 & 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 recently played in his 100th game of his UMass career on Oct. 16 vs. Sacred Heart and Gallacher is currently at 96 career games.
- Gallacher’s career games played total includes 72 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 74 of a possible 76 games thus far through two-plus seasons in a Minutemen uniform, totaling 52 career points on 20 goals and 32 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.
- On Feb. 24, Frank Vatrano’s overtime game winner vs. #12 Providence on Senior Night was selected as the No. 3 play of the week and Vatrano’s goal at Quinnipiac on Nov. 28 was the No. 2 play of the week on Dec. 2, 2014.
- 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.
- In 2013-14 UMass cracked the Top Plays countdown on five occasions.
Vs. Ranked Teams
- Following a loss to #13/15 Yale last Saturday, UMass is 0-1-0 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 70-215-28 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.
