Tough Test Awaits UMass Hockey In Trip To No. 1 Ohio State

University of Massachusetts Hockey Game Notes
Games 3-4	Massachusetts (2-0-0, 0-0-0 HEA) at No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (2-0-0, 0-0-0 B1G)
Dates \| Times	Friday, October 19, 2018 - 7 p.m. \| Saturday, October 20, 2018 - 5 p.m.
Location	Columbus, Ohio (Value City Arena - 17,500)
Series History	Ohio State leads 0-2-1; Last meeting: Oct. 21, 2017 in Amherst (L, 0-3)
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Watch Live	Friday: BTN Plus on BTN2Go \| Saturday BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Listen (Radio)	WHMP AM 1400/1240 FM 96.9/107.5
Listen (Online)	WHMP Streaming Player \| TuneIn App (mobile devices)
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| Ohio State \| Hockey East
Team Records	Massachusetts \| Ohio State
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	Ticketmaster
Game Promotions	Ohio State Hockey Promos Calendar

Quick Hits
- The Minutemen opened up the 2018-19 season with a sweep of Rensselaer last weekend, defeating the Engineers in Amherst on Friday, 6-1, before taking the second game in Troy on Saturday, 3-1.
- In the 6-1 victory, UMass opened up with a four-goal first period, which included three of the squad's four power-play goals on the evening. The Minutemen finished the night with four power-play goals, going 4-for-7 with the man advantage. The last time UMass accomplished such a feat was against Michigan State at the Mullins Center on Oct. 20, 2013.
- A total of seven UMass freshmen skated in their first collegiate contests in the Friday night meeting with the Engineers: Anthony Del Gaizo, Marc Del Gaizo, Ty Farmer, Colin Felix, Bobby Kaiser, Bobby Trivigno and Kolby Vegara. Senior transfer Jacob Pritchard (St. Lawrence) also laced up for the first time as a Minuteman.
- Of those newcomers, four had at least one point in Marc Del Gaizo (1g, 1a), Farmer (1g), Pritchard (1g, 2a) and Trivigno (1a).
- It marked Pritchard's third career three-point game, first as a Minuteman and first since Oct. 28, 2017 (2-1-3) at Wisconsin.
- In total in game one against RPI, 10 Minutemen posted points in the contest – Marc Del Gaizo, Pritchard and sophomore Cale Makar each with multi-point efforts. In total for the weekend, 13 of the 19 skaters who dressed for both contests contributed points.
- Makar had a single game career-high with four points on two goals and two assists, which was the first time a UMass skater had a four-point game since Oct. 16, 2015 and first time UMass defenseman had four points in a game since Nov. 18, 2006, when Mike Kostka contributed four assists in an 8-1 win over UConn at the Mullins Center. He earned Hockey East Player of the Week honors on Monday (10/15) for the first time in his career.
- The six goals were the most for the Minutemen in a season opener since 2015-16 and the most in a home opener since 2008-09 (a 9-4 win over Providence).
- Sophomore Matt Murray got the nod between the pipes in game one for his 2018-19 debut and posted 27 saves for the Minutemen. Fille Lindberg made his first collegiate start in game two and had 20 saves. Each goaltender allowed just one power-play goal on the weekend.
- In Saturday night's 3-1 road victory Both sophomore Mitchell Chaffee (2g) and Trivigno (2a) had multi-point games, while Anthony Del Gaizo scored his first collegiate goal and Colin Felix added an assist for his first career point.
- Chafee's two tallies on Saturday included the game winner and marked his seventh multi-point game of his career and second career multi-goal effort. He finished the weekend with three tallies and was +2 en route to co-UMass Student-Athlete of the Week (10/15) honors.
- UMass out-shot RPI both nights at 37-28 and 32-21, respectively.

Notable Firsts
- All seven UMass freshmen skaters made their collegiate debuts against Rensselaer on Oct. 12, while goaltender Fille Lindberg made his debut on Saturday, Oct. 13, at RPI and had 20 saves en route to his first career win.
- In addition, graduate transfer Jacob Pritchard made his UMass debut in the Friday night contest against RPI (10/12) and had the first three points of his career come in the opening period, with a goal and two assists.
- Defenseman Marc Del Gaizo notched his first career goal and first career assist in the season opener on Oct. 12 vs. RPI.
- Defenseman Ty Farmer and forward Anthony Del Gaizo also had their first career tallies come in the RPI series, Farmer's on Friday and Del Gaizo's opened the scoring on Saturday.
- Forward Bobby Trivigno's first career point came in UMass' 6-1 win over RPI on Oct. 12 and followed up with his first career multi-point game on Oct. 13 at RPI.
- Defenseman Colin Felix had an assist on Oct. 13 at RPI for his first collegiate point.

Building Blocks From 2017-18
- In 2017-18, the Minutemen posted a 12-win improvement from 2016-17, marking the biggest one-year turnaround in program history and in Division I hockey this past season. UMass' 17 wins from a season ago were the most for the program since 2009-10 (18) and seventh-best for a season in program history.
- UMass' nine Hockey East wins in 2017-18 were the most for the program since 2012-13 and tied for seventh-most in program history.
- The top-three nationally-ranked recruiting class assembled by Carvel and his staff heading into 2017-18 lived up to its billing as UMass led the nation in freshmen scoring by a wide margin. The class' 67 goals were the most by a freshman class in UMass' Hockey East era and second all-time in assists (102) and points (169), as well.
- Among other milestones set by Carvel's Minutemen last season, the program hosted and won its first postseason series since 2007 and posted four wins over ranked opponents, including three over top-10 teams.

The Gang's All Here
- UMass returns all five of its top five point producers from a season ago in sophomores John Leonard (28 pts), Mitchell Chaffee (24 pts), Oliver Chau (24 pts), Mario Ferraro (23 pts) and Cale Makar (21 pts) who all led the Minutemen as freshmen.
- In total, UMass returns 215 of 281 points from a season ago (76.5%) and 78 of its 104 goals (75%).

Here's Johnny
- After a stellar freshman campaign in 2017-18, Minutemen forward John Leonard was selected in the sixth round, 182nd overall, by the San Jose Sharks in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Leonard became 27th NHL draft pick in program history and the fourth Minuteman drafted by the San Jose Sharks.
- The Amherst, Massachusetts native was the first UMass player since Justin Braun in 2007 (San Jose, 7th round/201st overall) to be selected following his freshman season in Amherst.
- Leonard joined classmate Mario Ferraro as the second San Jose draft pick on the current UMass roster as Ferraro was selected 49th overall in 2017.
- Leonard led UMass in scoring in 2017-18 with 28 points on 13 goals and 15 assists over 33 games. He was tabbed the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month for March, which was his fourth award of the season after previously being named Hockey East Rookie of the Week twice and Player of the Week once during his freshman campaign.
- Leonard helped the Minutemen to their first Hockey East Tournament series win since 2007 with four points on two goals and two assists in UMass' 2018 Hockey East Opening Round series against Vermont. He had multi-point games in both of UMass' victories over UVM, which included leading UMass' third period comeback in game one and a highlight reel goal in the Minutemen's 5-1 series-clinching victory that was a SportsCenter Top 10 play.

O Captain My Captain
- In April, Niko Hildenbrand was tabbed as UMass' captain for the 2018-19 season, while sophomores Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro will wear the "A"s for the Minutemen.
- As a sophomore in 2017-18, Hildenbrand nearly doubled his freshman year point production, finishing seventh on the squad in scoring with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists over 36 games.
- The Vacaville, California native was +4 with one shorthanded tally and two game winners to his credit and blocked 35 shots while posting four multi-point games.

He's Coming Back!
- Electing to return to UMass for his sophomore season, defenseman Cale Makar is the first NHL draft pick to play multiple years of college hockey after being selected in the top-10 of the NHL Entry Draft since James van Riemsdyk went on to play three seasons at New Hampshire after being selected second overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2007.
- Makar, the No. 4 overall pick by the Colorado Avalanche in 2017, was named a co-recipient of the 2018 George C. Carens Award from the New England Hockey Writers Association as co-rookie of the year, a Hockey East Third Team All-Star and to the Hockey East All-Rookie team following his freshman season with the Minutemen in 2017-19.
- Makar totaled 21 points in his freshman campaign over 34 games on 5 goals and 15 assists to finish fifth on the squad in scoring. The Calgary, Alberta native ranked second for the Minutemen in plus minus at +9 and contributed two power-play goals, one shorthanded goal and one game winner with three multi-point games to his credit.
- He was selected as Hockey East Rookie of the Week on Jan. 15 after a three-point weekend against Vermont and finished with 13 points (4g, 9a) in 20 league games. Makar finished ninth in defenseman scoring in Hockey East and ranked seventh nationally in scoring among freshmen defensemen at 0.62 points per-game.

Super Mario
- Sophomore Mario Ferraro will serve as an alternate captain for the Minutemen alongside 2017-18 defensive partner Cale Makar. Ferraro, a 2018 Hockey East All-Rookie Team selection, broke Brandon Montour's record for points by a freshman defenseman in UMass' Hockey East era, logging 23 points on four goals and a team-best 19 assists as the Minutemen's top scoring defenseman in 2017-18.
- Seeing action in all 39 games, the King City, Ontario native was +5 with six multi-point games, two power-play goals and one game winner. Over 24 Hockey East contests, he totaled 14 points on two goals and 12 assists. Ferraro finished tied for sixth in Hockey East in defenseman scoring and tied for ninth in freshman scoring.

Murray Makes His Mark
- Freshman goaltender Matt Murray is coming off of a solid freshman campaign in which he broke the UMass single season shutout record previously set by Jonathan Quick in 2006-07 and Markus Helanen in 2000-01 with four on the year.
- Murray saw 58.1% of the squad's minutes in net and posted a 2.70 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage over 1,376 minutes over 24 games. Both his GAA and save percentage from 2017-18 rank 10^th in program history for a single season and were the best by a UMass netminder since 2008-09.
- The St. Albert, Alberta native was tabbed the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Jan. 22, was honored as the Hockey East Player of the Week on Feb. 12, and picked up his third different Hockey East weekly award of the 2017-18 season on Feb. 26 when he was selected as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week.

League Things And Other Tibits
- Freshmen Anthony and Marc Del Gazio's father Anthony played college hockey at Merrimack (1983-84). They are the fourth set of siblings to play for the Minutemen in the program's modern era (James Marcou 2007-10 and Michael Marcou 2008-12; Jeff Turner 1997-2001 and Tim Turner 1999-2003; Mike Warner 2000-04 and Tim Warner 2001-05).
- Freshman Bobby Trivigno is the second member of his family to play in Hockey East, following in the footsteps of his sister Dana who was a standout forward and former captain for Boston College where she put up 138 points in 148 career games for the Eagles (2012-16).
- Freshman Fille Lindberg first started playing goal after receiving his first set of hand-me-down pads from former Merrimack goaltender and fellow Finland native Rasmus Tirronen who played for the Warriors from 2011-15.

Welcome Home T.J.
- Former UMass captain T.J. Syner has returned to his alma mater to join head coach Greg Carvel's staff as a volunteer assistant coach for 2018-19. The Springfield, Massachusetts native, who played for the Minutemen from 2008-12, has rejoined the program following seven seasons in the professional hockey ranks.
- Syner saw action in 135 games over his four-year collegiate career, totaling 37 goals and 60 assists for 97 points to rank 14th all-time on UMass' career scoring list and is tied for 10th in career assists.
- As a senior in 2011-12, Syner served as a team captain and led the Minutemen with 37 points (13g, 24a) en route to a Hockey East All-Conference Honorable Mention nod.
- Upon completion of his collegiate eligibility, Syner began his professional career with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League and split time between the AHL and ECHL's Reading Royals from 2011-14, winning a Kelly Cup championship with Reading in 2012-13.
- He went on to play three more ECHL seasons with the Utah Grizzlies (2014-16) and the Worcester Railers (2017-18) and spent the 2016-17 season overseas with Val Gardena HC (AlpsHL) and Coventry Blaze (EIHL). Syner logged 203 points over 282 career ECHL games on 80 goals and 123 assists.

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Players Mentioned

Mitchell Chaffee

Oliver Chau

Anthony Del Gaizo

Marc Del Gaizo

Ty Farmer

Colin Felix

Mario Ferraro

Niko Hildenbrand

Bobby Kaiser

John Leonard

Filip Lindberg

Cale Makar

Matt Murray

Jacob Pritchard

Bobby Trivigno

Kolby Vegara

Scoreboard

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