University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
8-19-4, 2-14-4
Northeastern
12-13-5, 6-8-4
Northeastern Tops UMass Hockey, 4-2
February 13, 2016 | Hockey
BOSTON - University of Massachusetts hockey erased an early 2-0 deficit, but Northeastern’s trio of power-play goals helped the Huskies past the Minutemen, 4-2 on Saturday night at Matthews Arena in a contest that featured 18 penalties between the squads. Following the setback, UMass is 8-19-4 on the year, 2-14-4 in Hockey East, while NU improves to 6-8-4 in league action and 11-13-5 overall.
Sophomores Anthony Petrella and Maddison Smiley provided the tallies for the Minutemen on the night, their second and first of the season, respectively. Junior Ray Pigozzi registered an assist, his 19th of the year, for his team-leading 27th point.
Northeastern opened the scoring 7:08 into the first period with a power-play goal by Garret Cockerill that tipped past Alex Wakaluk off a feed from Dylan Sikura and Kevin Roy.
The Huskies then made it a 2-0 margin at the 11:39 mark. John Stevens and Matt Benning set up Nolan Stevens for a quick wrister from close range that found the back of the UMass net.
UMass cut its deficit in half late in the frame to close the gap to 2-1. Dennis Kravchenko advanced the puck to Pigozzi who skated into the Northeastern zone and found Petrella streaking up the slot for the tally at 15:05.
Then, 5:53 into the second period, Smiley drove home a strike from the slot off a pass from freshman Joseph Widmar and sophomore Dominic Trento.
However, Northeastern used power-play opportunities in the second and third periods to pull back in front. Nolan Stevens netted his second of the night to regain the lead for the Huskies at the 13:48 mark of the second and Zach Aston-Reese added an insurance tally 16:57 into the final stanza.
UMass finished with a 30-29 edge in shots and went 0-for-6 with the man advantage, while the Huskies were 3-for-7 on the power play. Wakaluk totaled 25 saves for the Minutemen and his counterpart, Ryan Ruck, recorded 28 stops.
UMass will return to action next Friday, Feb. 19, when the squad will travel to UMass Lowell for a non-league matchup against the River Hawks that is set for a 7 p.m. start.
