Hockey Hosts UConn For Final Home Game In 2017

University of Massachusetts Hockey Game Notes
Game 14	Massachusetts Minutemen (7-6-0, 2-3-0 HEA) vs. UConn Huskies (6-10-2, 4-6-1)
Date \| Time	Friday, December 1, 2017 - 7 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. - Mullins Center (8,373)
Series History	UMass leads 34-12-3
Live Statistics	SideArm
Watch Live	NESN \| NESN GO (New England Subscribers) \| UMass All-Access (Blacked out in NESN coverage area)
Listen (Radio)	WHMP AM 1400/1240 FM 96.9/107.5
Listen (Online)	WHMP Streaming Player \| TuneIn App (mobile devices)
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| UConn
Team Records	Massachusetts \| UConn
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics \| @UConnMHOC
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	Friday
Game Promotions	Ugly Christmas sweater scarves (student giveaway) \| Elements Massage "stress reliever" for students \| Autograph signing (Approximately 10 minutes following the game)

Quick Hits: UMass Sweeps Home-And-Home With Quinnipiac
- UMass hockey withstood a late charge from Quinnipiac and opened the weekend with a 2-1 victory on the road in Hamden, Connecticut last Friday and followed up with a convincing 6-3 win at home on Saturday to complete the weekend sweep of the Bobcats.
- Freshman Mitchell Chaffee put UMass on the board with the only goal of the first period on Friday, burring a backhand pass from freshman Oliver Chau from close range at the 11:46 mark.
- After Quinnipiac tied things up early in the second period, freshman Mario Ferraro tucked a pass from classmate Jake Gaudet under the crossbar at the 4:02 mark to put UMass on top, 2-1.
- The Minutemen continued to hold off the surging Bobcats in the third and finished the contest with 24 blocked shots, a season high for the squad.
- Sophomore Ryan Wischow totaled 32 saves in the victory.
- On Saturday, a hat trick from redshirt senior Niko Rufo and two goals from Chau helped the Minutemen to the 6-3 victory.
- It marked Rufo's fourth multi-point game of the season and first career multi-goal game.
- Chau picked up his first career multi-goal game and his fourth mutli-point game of the season. – Cale Makar and Gaudet both posted their first career multi-point efforts with two assists apiece. Chaffee's goal and assist marked his third multi-point game of the year.
- Wischow totaled 47 saves for the Minutemen and improved to 4-1-0 on the season.

Wischow Earns Player Of The Week Honor From Hockey East
- Sophomore goaltender Ryan Wischow was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on November after leading UMass to a weekend sweep of Quinnipiac. It marked Wischow's first weekly honor of his career.
- Wischow, who is the first UMass neminder to garner Player of the Week recognition since Jonathan Quick did so in 2007, posted a pair of wins as the Minutemen swept a weekend series against the Bobcats. He logged a 2.00 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage over the two contests, making a total of 79 saves.
- Wischow stopped 47 shots in UMass' 6-3 win over the Bobcats in the Saturday contest after opening the weekend with 32 saves in a 2-1 win on the road at Quinnipiac.
- The victories moved Wischow to 4-1-0 on the year with a 2.67 GAA and a .920 save percentage over six games and 337 minutes of action. He currently ranks tied for first in Hockey East in winning percentage (.800) and ranks fourth in save percentage.
- Wischow's performance against Quinnipiac capped a stellar month of November for the netminder, which saw him go 3-0-0 over four games with a 1.93 goals-against averae and a .947 save percentage, making 126 saves.

Top Of The Class
- As a team, UMass leads the nation in freshmen scoring in goals (25), assists (39), points (64), game winning goals (4), goals per-game (1.92), assists per-game (3.00) and points per-game (4.92).
- The Minutemen are 17 points and nine goals ahead of Wisconsin (47 and 16) for the national lead with four fewer games played on the year.

Stellar Homecoming For Leonard
- After stealing the headlines following a three-point effort in his first game at the Mullins Center, Amherst native John Leonard was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week and the UMass Student-Athlete of the Week on October 16.
- Leonard helped UMass to a 2-0-0 weekend last week with the first two multi-point games of his career.
- He registered two goals and three assists over the two contests for a five-point week, starting the weekend with a pair of helpers in a 5-4 win at Union. He followed up with a three-point night against AIC, factoring in all three of the Minutemen's goals with two goals and an assist, including his second game winner of the season.
- The performances also capped a four-game point streak for Leonard.

Chau Chipping In
- Aided by a four-point weekend against Merrimack that earned him Hockey East Rookie of the Week recognition, freshman Oliver Chau currently leads UMass in scoring with 13 points on the season on six goals and seven assists.
- On Oct. 28 on the road at Merrimack, Chau posted a three-point effort with a goal and two assists for a new season high and third multi-point game of the season. This past weekend, he logged his first career multi-goal game with a pair of tallies in UMass' 6-3 win over Quinnipiac.
- He currently ranks tied for third in the nation among freshmen in points per-game (1.00), tied for third in goals (6), tied for fifth in points (13), fourth in goals per-game (0.46) and tied for sixth in power-play points (6).
- In Hockey East, Chau is tied for seventh overall in points, tied for eighth in goals and tied for first in freshman scoring.

A Baker's Dozen
- With 13 freshmen on the roster, UMass has the largest freshman class in all of Division I hockey this season. Air Force and Alaska Anchorage follow, each with 12 freshmen.
- The class is comprised of eight forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders. The group hails from three different countries with five from the United States, seven from Canada and one from Finland. Amherst native John Leonard is the closest to home, while Eetu Torpström, at 3,962 miles from Kuopio, Finland, is the furthest.
- In addition to having the most freshmen in college hockey this season, UMass also has the most freshmen and sophomores on its roster (21). AIC and Maine, two teams the Minutemen face this year, are next on the list with 20.

League Imports
- Though new to the Minutemen, two additions to the UMass roster for 2017-18 are not only veterans of college hockey, but of Hockey East.
- Redshirt sophomore Josh Couturier, who sat out last season per NCAA transfer rules, suits up for the Maroon and White for the first time this fall. As a freshman at Boston College in 2015-16, Couturier saw action in 33 games and contributed six points for the Eagles on two goals and four assists.
- In the offseason, UMass also added graduate transfer Niko Rufo to its 2017-18 roster, eligible to play immediately. Rufo, a forward from Stoneham, joined the Minutemen from Providence College and has one year of collegiate eligibility remaining.
- At Providence, Rufo tallied 10 points on four goals and six assists in 56 games over four seasons, with a career-high 18 games played in both 2015-16 and 2016-17. He appeared in 11 games during the Friars' national championship season in 2014-15.
- Rufo equaled his season career high in a Friars' uniform (2g, 2a in 19 games in 2016-17) in just the third game of the season for the Minutemen. He is second on the team in scoring currently with 11 points on six goals and five assists, having surpassed his career points (10) and goals totals (4) from Providence in just 13 games.

Firsts On Firsts On Firsts
- In UMass' season opening weekend at Arizona State all 13 freshmen dressed for at least one of the two contests with 12 seeing their first collegiate action.
- Six freshmen collected their first collegiate points in the season opener at Arizona State: Austin Albrecht (assist), Marco Bozzo (goal), Mitchell Chaffee (goal), Mario Ferraro (assist), John Leonard (assist) and Cale Makar (assist).
- Redshirt sophomore Josh Couturier assisted on the squad's final tally in game one for his first point in a UMass uniform.
- On night two at Arizona State, freshmen provided two of the four goals for the Minutemen, with Jake Gaudet opening the scoring with his first of his career and John Leonard collecting the game-winner for his first career tally.
- Freshman Oliver Chau notched an assist in game two for his first career point and redshirt senior Niko Rufo logged a goal and an assist at Arizona State on Oct. 7 for his first career multi-point game.
- Freshman Matt Murray made his collegiate debut in net at Arizona State on Oct. 7 and earned his first career win. He collected his first collegiate shutout on Oct. 27 vs. Merrimack.
- Chau picked up his first collegiate goal early in the second period at Union on Oct. 13 and George Mika netted his on the power play midway through the third. To date, 25 of 38 UMass goals on the season have been scored by freshmen, including 17 of the last 21 goals.
- Freshman Philip Lagunov's assist on Niko Rufo's goal at Union marked his first collegiate point. All 11 freshman skaters have at least one point through UMass' first 13 games.
- In UMass' weekend series against Merrimack on Oct. 27-28, three rookie defensemen, Makar, Eetu Torpström and Ferraro registered their first collegiate goals, while Couturier picked up his first as a member of the Minutemen.
- The latest member of the freshman class to collect his first career goal was Albrecht who scored the game winner against #8/7 Providence for the Minutemen on Nov. 9.
- Gaudet picked up his first two assists of his career in back-to-back nights of UMass' sweep of Quinnipiac (11/24-25).

Sophomore Support
- Sophomore forward Griff Jeskza comes into the 2017-18 as UMass' top returning goal scorer from a season ago. As a rookie in 2016-17, Jeszka found the back of the net seven times and added five assists for 12 points.
- Jeszka not only led the 2016-17 freshman class in scoring, but was second overall on the squad in goals and fifth in points.
- Three more sophomores contributed nine points apiece last season—Jonny Lazarus (5g, 4a), Niko Hildenbrand (4g, 5a) and Shane Bear (3g, 6a).

History Made At The 2017 NHL Draft
- It was a historic weekend for UMass at the 2017 NHL Draft as the Minutemen saw incoming freshmen Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro become the two highest draft picks in program history. Makar was selected No. 4 overall by the Colorado Avalanche and Ferraro was taken 49th overall by the San Jose Sharks.
- Makar became the first Minuteman to be selected in the first round. His No. 4 selection tied for fourth all-time in Hockey East history, as well. Prior to the 2017 NHL Draft, current Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour had been UMass' highest draft pick going in the second round, 55th overall, to the Ducks in 2014.
- Makar amassed 135 career points on 35 goals and 100 assists over 111 regular season contests with the Brooks Bandits over the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) and added 37 points (9g, 28a) in 46 career postseason games with AJHL titles with Brooks in 2016 and 2017. His laundry list of honors includes: 2016-17 AJHL Top Defenceman, 2016-17 AJHL Most Valuable Player, 2016-17 AJHL Playoff MVP, 2016-17 AJHL All-League Team, 2016-17 Western Canada Cup Top Defenceman and All-Tournament Team, 2016-17 RBC Cup Top Defenceman and Most Valuable Player (the first player to ever be named RBC Cup MVP in back-to-back seasons), 2016-17 CJHL Most Valuable Player and 2016-17 RBC National Junior A Player of the Year.
- Ferraro played his final season of junior hockey in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Des Moines Buccaneers and totaled 41 points on eight goals and 33 assists over 60 regular season contests. He garnered USHL First All-Star Team and USHL All-Rookie Team accolades after tying for first among USHL defensemen in goals and ranking second in points and assists.

Minding The Net
- Ryan Wischow is the lone returning goaltender for the Minutemen, but brings a wealth of experience into his sophomore season after seeing nearly 70% of the time in net for UMass in 2016-17.
- As a freshman, Wischow played in 27 games, starting 26 of those, for a total of 1461 minutes and logged 700 saves.
- The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native recorded a 31-save shutout in his collegiate debut against Colorado College on Oct. 7, 2016 to become the first goaltender in UMass' Division I history to post a shutout in his career debut.
- On December 13, 2016, Wischow made a career high 52 saves at Princeton, the most saves for a UMass goaltender in a regulation game since 2001.

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Players Mentioned

Shane Bear

Josh Couturier

Niko Hildenbrand

Jonny Lazarus

Ryan Wischow

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