Top-10 Home-And-Home Matchup Awaits No. 3 Hockey This Weekend

University of Massachusetts Hockey Game Notes
Games 6-7	#3 Massachusetts Minutemen (4-1-0, 0-1-0 HEA) vs. #10 Northeastern Huskies (4-1-1, 1-0-0 HEA)
Dates \| Times	Friday, November 1, 2019 - 7 p.m. Saturday, November 2, 2019 - 8 p.m.
Location	Boston, Mass. (Matthews Arena - 4,666) Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center - 8,096)
Series History	Northeastern leads 56-29-10
Live Statistics	Friday: StatBroadcast Saturday: Sidearm
Watch Live	Friday: CBS All-Access \| NESN+ Saturday: CBS All-Access \| NESN+
Listen (Radio)	WHMP AM 1400/1240 FM 101.5/107.5
Listen (Online)	WHMP Streaming Player \| TuneIn App (mobile devices)
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| Northeastern \| Hockey East
Team Records	Massachusetts \| Northeastern
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	Friday \| Saturday* *Box office opens at 5 p.m. on Saturday
Game Promotions	Saturday: Stick Salute To Service, Presented by Milton CAT - As Veteran's Day approaches, we take time to thank, recognize, and appreciate all those who have served, are currently serving, or will serve in the military. We will host military personnel on the concourse, as they share resources with those who may need them. Additionally, we will be giving away a limited number of camo mini sticks!

Quick Hits: No. 3/5 UMass Outlasts AIC, 4-1
- No. 3/5 University of Massachusetts hockey scored three times in the final three minutes of the third period, breaking up a 1-1 deadlock to secure a 4-1 victory over American International last Friday night at the Mullins Center.
- The victory moved UMass to 4-1-0 on the season, a perfect, 4-0-0 mark at home.
- Sophomore Anthony Del Gaizo put the Minutemen on the board early for a second straight game as he took the puck to the net on a feed out of the corner from juniors Oliver Chau and Mitchell Chaffee and roofed it over Zackarias Skog to give UMass a 1-0 lead 3:12 into the contest.
- AIC answered before the close of the period, though and the teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 for the next 42 minutes and 50 seconds, with UMass keeping the Yellow Jackets at bay through a five-minute power play, which included a full two minutes of 5-on-3 late in the second period. The Minutemen ended the night a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
- With exactly three minutes remaining in regulation, junior John Leonard pocketed the would-be game winner after senior Jack Suter caused a turnover in the AIC zone, beating Skog down low for his second of the season.
- Freshman Cal Kiefiuk followed with some insurance just 37 seconds later, redirecting in a Reed Lebster shot at the post.
- Leonard finished off the scoring with an empty net goal from Suter at the 19:15 mark for his third multi-goal game of his career.
- Junior Matt Murray made 15 saves in the win for the Minutemen and UMass ended the contest with a 29-16 shot advantage.

Mr. Jones And Me
- Freshman defenseman Zac Jones was selected as the Hockey East Rookie of the Week as well as one of the UMass Student-Athletes of the Week on Oct. 21 following a big weekend against Union. The Glen Allen, Virginia native totaled five points on a goal and four assists and was +4 over the three games in a 2-1-0 week, which included his second and third multi-point games of the season.
- Jones registered a goal and two assists in a 6-1 victory over Union in game one and was +2. He followed up with a two-assist effort and helped UMass' defense post a 5-0 shutout, only allowing the Dutchmen 15 shots on goal in the Saturday night matchup.
- Entering this weekend's action, Jones is tied for the team lead in scoring for the Minutemen with seven points on two goals and five assists. He is currently tied for the national lead defensemen scoring at 1.40 points per-game, tied for 15th in assists per-game (1.00) overall and is third in in freshman scoring.
- In UMass' Hockey East era (1994-95 to present), there have been just 20 occasions where a Minuteman has recorded seven or more points through the first five games of a season. Among that group are four NHLers and four All-Americans. Jones is the first rookie defenseman in that span to reach seven points in five games or less.

Right Back Where We Started
- UMass ended the 2018-19 season ranked third nationally in scoring offense (3.68), tied for seventh in scoring defense (2.02), third in scoring margin (1.66), first in power play percentage (28.5%), fifth in penalty kill percentage (86.9%) and first in combined special teams (57.9%).
- Currently the Minutemen sit fifth in the nation in scoring offense (4.20), sixth in scoring defense (1.60), fourth in scoring margin (2.60), first in penalty kill percentage (100%) and second in combined special teams (63.0%).
- UMass is the only team currently still perfect on the PK this year, having killed off 26 of 26 thus far. Dating back to Feb. 21 of last season, UMass opponents are just 2-for-67 on the power play (2.99%) during that stretch.

The Kids Are Alright
- Freshmen Zac Jones, Cal Kiefiuk and Reed Lebster all scored in UMass' season opening win over RPI, marking the first time in the Minutemen's Division I era that three rookies have scored their first collegiate goals in an opener.
- Two more freshmen found their way onto the scoresheet for the first time at Northeastern in the Minutemen's Hockey East opener with Matt Kessel scoring the squad's lone goal, set up by Jeremy Davidson's first collegiate assist. Over the two-game series against Union that followed, freshmen combined for 10 of the squad's 21 points, led by a five-point weekend for Jones.
- In total, freshmen have combined for 19 of UMass' 52 points over the squad's five games thus far, including nine of 21 goals. Entering this weekend's action, UMass ranks second in the nation in freshmen scoring with 3.80 points per-game and second in goals per-game by freshmen, as well, at 1.80.
- Jones, Kiefiuk and Lebster all rank in the top-10 nationally in freshmen scoring as Jones is third and Kiefiuk and Lebster are tied for seventh with a 1.00 points per-game average.

Senior Year Sutes Him
- With five assists through four games, including his second and third multi-point games of his career, senior Jack Suter has already set a new career high in helpers and is just two points shy of matching his career high in points (7 in 26 GP as a sophomore).
- Entering this weekend's action, Suter is currently eighth in the nation in assists per-game (1.25).

Bounce Back
- The Minutemen have not lost back-to-back games since being swept by Northeastern to end the 2017-18 season in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. UMass, the only team in the nation to not lose back-to-back games in 2018-19, has not lost consecutive regular season games since February 2 and 3, 2018 against Boston University (2-3) and New Hampshire (1-3).

Home Is Where The Wins Are
- UMass is 26-3-0 in its last 29 games at the Mullins Center, 19-1-0 in its last 20 at home. The Minutemen have won 11 straight in Amherst, a streak that began on Jan. 11, 2019 against Vermont.

We're Bringing Scoring Back (Yeah)
- Despite the loss of their top two point scorers from last season in Hobey Baker winner Cale Makar (49 points) and senior Jacob Pritchard (47 points), the Minutemen have no shortage of returning offense.
- UMass brings back its leading goal scorer in 2019 First Team All-American Mitchell Chaffee who led the Minutemen with 18 in 2018-19, two 40-point scorers in Chaffee (42) and junior John Leonard (40) and three more 20-point scorers: Marc Del Gaizo (29), Bobby Trivigno (28) and Jake Gaudet (22).
- In total the Minutemen return 105 goals, which alone would have put them 29th of 60 teams in 2018-19 overall. UMass finished third in the nation goals last season with 151, the highest total in the program's Hockey East era and its third-highest total all-time.

Year Three For 21
- Junior co-captain Mitchell Chaffee is coming off a breakout sophomore season in 2018-19 which saw him garner CCM/AHCA Hockey First-Team All-America honors and earn the title of Hockey East Scoring Champion, in addition to receiving the Herb Gallagher Award (New England's best forward) and earning New England All-Star and Hockey East First-Team All-Star recognition.
- In Hockey East action, Chaffee totaled 31 points over 23 league contests for an average of 1.35 points per-game. The Rockford, Michigan native also led Hockey East in assists in league play with 22, to go along with his nine goals. He became the second Hockey East Scoring Champion in program history.
- Overall Chaffee registered 42 points over 40 contests on a team-high 18 goals with 24 assists and a plus/minus rating of +21. He finished fourth overall in Hockey East in points, third in goals, tied for eighth in assists, tied for sixth in power-play points (14), tied for third in power-play goals (7) and tied for sixth in plus/minus. He amassed 12 multi-point games, as well.
- Thus far in a UMass uniform over two-plus seasons Chaffee has seen action in 84 games and has logged 35 goals and 38 assists for 73 points. His career points total ranks him 34th on UMass' all-time points list..
- Chaffee is one of two First Team All-Americans from 2018-19 to return to college in 2019-20, the only other being goaltender Hunter Shepard of Minnesota Duluth.

Leno Leads The Way
- Junior John Leonard entered 2019-20 as UMass' active leader in career scoring with 68 career points on 29 goals and 39 assists.
- Last season he became the 20th player in program history to post a 40-point season and was named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star.
- The Amherst native ranked fourth on the team and fifth in Hockey East in scoring in 2018-19, tied for sixth in the league in goals (16), tied for eighth in assists (24), finished third in Hockey East with 18 power play points and tied for third in power-play goals (7).
- In Hockey East play last season, Leonard was third in Hockey East in points with 29 on 11 goals and 18 assists. He also tied for fifth in league action in assists, tied for third in goals and tied for third in power-play points (13).
- Leonard scored in each of UMass' three wins in the NCAA Tournament last season, finishing the Tournament with four points (3g, 1a).

Name A More Iconic Duo
- The Minutemen return arguably the top goaltending tandem in the country as both sophomore Filip Lindberg and junior Matt Murray finished the 2018-19 season among the NCAA leaders, including both ranking in the top 15 nationally in goals-against average and winning percentage.
- Murray was the NCAA statistical champion for winning percentage with a record of 20-5-0, a mark that also surpassed a program record for wins previously held by former Minuteman and NHL veteran Jonathan Quick.
- Lindberg, who started all four of UMass' NCAA Tournament games, ended his freshman campaign second in the nation with a 1.60 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. He is the top returning goaltender in the nation statistically in both categories for 2019-20. The Espoo, Finland native ranked fourth nationally in winning percentage (.733) with a record of 11-4-0 and tied for 10th nationally in shutouts with four.
- As a rookie, Lindberg set a new program single-season record for goals-against average and tied Murray's record for single-season shutouts. His save percentage was the highest by a UMass netminder since 1969-70, second all-time.
- Murray and Lindberg tied the program's shutout record (5) from 1913-14 and served as the backbone of a UMass defense that allowed the fewest goals in the team's Division I era (83).
- Murray and Lindberg are currently ranked third (1.34) and seventh (1.50) nationally in goals-against average.

Watch Out For Marc Del Gaizo
- While many know Marc Del Gaizo for scoring the overtime game winner that sent UMass into the 2019 National Championship game, that was merely the exclamation point on one of the best rookie seasons by a Minuteman defenseman in program history.
- Del Gaizo received Hockey East Third Team All-Star and Hockey East All-Rookie Team accolades and earned an All-CHN Rookie Team nod, as well.
- One of seven Minutemen to see action in all 41 games, Del Gaizo ranked 17th in the nation for points per-game by a freshman (0.71), and third in Hockey East with 29 points on 13 goals and 16 assists.
- The Basking Ridge, New Jersey native tied for third in the nation in plus minus at +31, tied for ninth in Hockey East in power-play points (14), power-play goals (6) and ranked fourth in defenseman scoring.
- Del Gaizo was the first rookie defenseman in Hockey East history to score 10 goals in league play, which tied for fifth overall on the Hockey East list for goals by a defenseman in a single season all-time.

Full Wagon
- In 2018-19, 8,7776 fans came through the turnstiles at the Mullins Center for UMass hockey, the third-highest attendance total in program history. UMass ranked 12th in the nation and had the highest average attendance (4,876) last season of any team east of State College, Pennsylvania.
- The sellout against No. 8 Quinnipiac on Dec. 8, 2019 was the fourth sellout in program history at the Mullins Center and first since Feb. 5, 2010 against Boston College. The crowd of 8,412 set a new Mullins Center attendance record for hockey. Overall (including both away and neutral site games), it was the 19th largest crowd to ever witness a UMass hockey game.
- The 2018-19 campaign marked the first time the Minutemen had multiple home sellouts in the same season in program history.
- UMass packed the stands even on the road. There was a total of 10 sold out/capacity crowds in Hockey East arenas last season and the Minutemen played in eight of those games.
- Five of the top-20 largest crowds to ever witness a UMass hockey game occurred during the 2018-19 season: the National Championship game vs. Minnesota Duluth (13,624 – 6th), the National Semifinal vs. Denver (13,051 – 9th), the Hockey East Semifinal vs. Boston College (11,572 – 10th), and home matchups against Quinnipiac (8,412 – 19th) and Boston University (8,389 – t-20th).

Top Of The Charts
- UMass entered the 2019-20 season ranked No. 4 in the USCHO.com poll and No. 5 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll, which is the first time the Minutemen have opened a season ranked in either poll.
- History was made on Dec. 3, 2018 as the Minutemen earned their first No. 1 national ranking in program history, sitting at the top of the USCHO.com poll with 26 first-place votes and 964 points. UMass was ranked for 20 straight weeks to end the 2018-19 season, and earned a No. 2 ranking in the final polls.
- UMass entered the national rankings on Oct. 22, 2018 coming in at No. 16 in the USCHO.com poll. The last time the Minutemen were ranked prior to October 2018 was in the USCHO.com poll released on Feb. 15, 2010.
- On November 5, 2018 UMass moved up to No. 9 in the USCHO.com Poll and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll in the No. 9 spot as well, the highest ranking for the Minutemen since November 30, 2009 (No. 9).
- UMass surpassed all previous highs in rankings on Nov. 12, 2018 when the squad was sitting at No. 4 in both polls.
- Previously the highest ranking in program history came in the USCHO.com poll on Dec. 31, 2007 at No. 5. The Minutemen spent six weeks in the top-10 during the 2007-08 season.
- After sitting in the No. 4 spot for two weeks, UMass improved upon its all-time highest ranking, moving up to No. 3 in both polls on Nov. 26, 2018.
- The Minutemen earned their first-ever top-10 ranking (No. 9) on Nov. 10, 2003 and ranked as high as No. 7 that season.
- UMass collected its first-ever national ranking on Jan. 6, 2003. (No. 15 USCHO.com poll/No. 14 USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll).
- On Jan. 14, 2019, UMass received its first No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

Get Out The Red Pen
- The Minutemen re-wrote the UMass record book in 2018-19 with the team breaking program records for wins overall (31), Hockey East wins (18), home wins (17), road wins (11) and tied the all-time mark for wins over ranked opponents (10).
- UMass posted the longest win streak in program history in 2018-19 (nine games), which is also the program's longest unbeaten streak.
- The Minutemen were the most improved team in the country for a second straight year, going from five wins in head coach Greg Carvel's first year to 17 wins in 2017-18 (+12) to 31 wins in 2018-19 (+14).
- UMass also set a new program record for power-play goals (43), penalty kill percentage (86.9%), games played (41) and goals-against average (1.98).

League Things And Other Tidbits
- 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).
- 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).
- Filip 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.
- Matthew Kessel is the third member of his family to play college hockey. His brother Will played a Western Michigan from 2011-15 and captained the Broncos in 2014-15, while his brother Peter plays at Holy Cross and is in his junior season with the Crusaders.

Scoreboard

Top-10 Home-And-Home Matchup Awaits No. 3 Hockey This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Mitchell Chaffee

Oliver Chau

Jeremy Davidson

Anthony Del Gaizo

Marc Del Gaizo

Jake Gaudet

Zac Jones

Matthew Kessel

Cal Kiefiuk

Reed Lebster

John Leonard

Filip Lindberg

Cale Makar

Matt Murray

Jacob Pritchard

Jack Suter

Bobby Trivigno

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics