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University of Massachusets Athletics
Friday, October 13
Schenectady, N.Y.
7 P.M.
University of Massachusetts
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Union
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Massachusetts
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Union College
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Hockey Tops Union, 5-4, For Second Straight Win
October 13, 2017 | Hockey
Chaffee, Chau, Leonard and Rufo all had multi-point nights in the victory for the Minutemen.
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Five different goal scorers helped the University of Massachusetts hockey team pick up a 5-4 win on the road at Union on Friday night. With the victory, the Minutemen move to 2-1 on the season, while the Dutchmen drop to 0-4 overall.
"I thought tonight was going to be a really good test for our group," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel, "I've coached enough times here to know how well Union plays at home. We were really concerned about the first five minutes and I give my guys a lot of credit. I thought we came out and dictated the tempo for the first 10 minutes of the game."
UMass jumped out to a 1-0 lead 6:01 into the opening period. Redshirt senior Niko Rufo knocked the puck in amidst a net mouth scramble off a feed from freshmen John Leonard and Philip Lagunov. The assist marked Lagunov's first point of his collegiate career.
After carrying a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, Minutemen made it 2-0 just 52 seconds into the second period. Freshman Mitchell Chaffee sent the puck to classmate Oliver Chau down low and Chau walked in alone for the shot and score, his first career goal.
Union pulled back to within one at the 8:17 mark. Ryan Walker put the puck home at close range from Jack Adams and Greg Campbell.
Chaffee then regained the two-goal cushion for the Minutemen, notching the squad's first power-play goal of the season 10:33 into the second. Chaffee redirected in freshman Cale Makar's shot from the top of the slot with Chau collecting an assist for his second point of the contest, as well.
At 2:48 in the third period, the Dutchmen closed the gap to one once more. Brett Supinski and Sebastian Vidmar set up Anthony Rinaldi on the power play, bringing the score to 3-2.
UMass stretched things out to 4-2 at the 9:12 mark. George Mika deposited a pass from sophomore Josh Couturier and Rufo into the back of the net on the power play for his first career goal.
The Minutemen added a critical empty netter from sophomore Niko Hildenbrand 18:27 into the final frame to go up 5-2. Hildenbrand's unassisted tally proved to be the game winner after Union surged late with goals at 18:45 and 19:51.
UMass out-shot the Dutchmen 31-26 in the contest and went 2-for-3 on the power play, while limiting Union to a 1-for-5 clip with the man advantage, including killing off a five-minute major in the third.
Sophomore Ryan Wischow finished with 22 saves for the Minutemen and Jake Kupsky stopped 26 shots for the Dutchmen. UMass won 30 of 56 faceoffs (53.6%) on the night, as well.
Chaffee, Chau and Rufo all had multi-point nights for the Minutemen with a goal and an assist apiece. Leonard was the fourth Minuteman with a mutli-point effort, chipping in with a pair of helpers Through three games on the season, freshmen have provided seven of the team's 12 tallies. Rufo, a graduate transfer from Providence, leads UMass with four points, equaling his season career high in a Friars' uniform (2g, 2a in 19 games in 2016-17).
The Minutemen will be back in action tomorrow night, October 14, when the squad will play host to American International at 7 p.m. in the Mullins Center, the 2017-18 home opener.
For continued coverage of UMass hockey, follow the team on Twitter (@UMassHockey) and Instagram (@MassachusettsHockey) and on Facebook at facebook.com/UMassHockey.
"I thought tonight was going to be a really good test for our group," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel, "I've coached enough times here to know how well Union plays at home. We were really concerned about the first five minutes and I give my guys a lot of credit. I thought we came out and dictated the tempo for the first 10 minutes of the game."
UMass jumped out to a 1-0 lead 6:01 into the opening period. Redshirt senior Niko Rufo knocked the puck in amidst a net mouth scramble off a feed from freshmen John Leonard and Philip Lagunov. The assist marked Lagunov's first point of his collegiate career.
After carrying a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, Minutemen made it 2-0 just 52 seconds into the second period. Freshman Mitchell Chaffee sent the puck to classmate Oliver Chau down low and Chau walked in alone for the shot and score, his first career goal.
Union pulled back to within one at the 8:17 mark. Ryan Walker put the puck home at close range from Jack Adams and Greg Campbell.
Chaffee then regained the two-goal cushion for the Minutemen, notching the squad's first power-play goal of the season 10:33 into the second. Chaffee redirected in freshman Cale Makar's shot from the top of the slot with Chau collecting an assist for his second point of the contest, as well.
At 2:48 in the third period, the Dutchmen closed the gap to one once more. Brett Supinski and Sebastian Vidmar set up Anthony Rinaldi on the power play, bringing the score to 3-2.
UMass stretched things out to 4-2 at the 9:12 mark. George Mika deposited a pass from sophomore Josh Couturier and Rufo into the back of the net on the power play for his first career goal.
The Minutemen added a critical empty netter from sophomore Niko Hildenbrand 18:27 into the final frame to go up 5-2. Hildenbrand's unassisted tally proved to be the game winner after Union surged late with goals at 18:45 and 19:51.
UMass out-shot the Dutchmen 31-26 in the contest and went 2-for-3 on the power play, while limiting Union to a 1-for-5 clip with the man advantage, including killing off a five-minute major in the third.
Sophomore Ryan Wischow finished with 22 saves for the Minutemen and Jake Kupsky stopped 26 shots for the Dutchmen. UMass won 30 of 56 faceoffs (53.6%) on the night, as well.
Chaffee, Chau and Rufo all had multi-point nights for the Minutemen with a goal and an assist apiece. Leonard was the fourth Minuteman with a mutli-point effort, chipping in with a pair of helpers Through three games on the season, freshmen have provided seven of the team's 12 tallies. Rufo, a graduate transfer from Providence, leads UMass with four points, equaling his season career high in a Friars' uniform (2g, 2a in 19 games in 2016-17).
The Minutemen will be back in action tomorrow night, October 14, when the squad will play host to American International at 7 p.m. in the Mullins Center, the 2017-18 home opener.
For continued coverage of UMass hockey, follow the team on Twitter (@UMassHockey) and Instagram (@MassachusettsHockey) and on Facebook at facebook.com/UMassHockey.
Team Stats
UMASS
UNION
Shots
31
26
PPG
2
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
3
Penalty Mins
13
6
Faceoffs Won
30
26
Game Leaders
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
+1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
2
Players Mentioned
F
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F
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F
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D
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F
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G
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