University of Massachusets Athletics

Saturday, November 23
North Andover, Mass.
7 P.M.

University of Massachusetts

8-3-1, 4-3-1HEA

3
at
2

Merrimack

2-8-2, 1-4-2HEA

1st period1
2nd period2
3rd period3
FinalF
Massachusetts
0
1
2
3
Merrimack
0
2
0
2
Cal Kiefiuk
Photo by: THOM KENDALL FOR UMASS ATHLETICS

No. 7 Hockey Rallies For 3-2 Win At Merrimack

November 23, 2019 | Hockey

Kiefiuk scores twice for UMass, including the game winner in the final minute of regulation.

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – No. 7 University of Massachusetts hockey rallied from a 2-0 deficit, which included scoring twice in the final five minutes of regulation, to pick up a 3-2 win at Merrimack on Saturday night. The Minutemen improve to 8-3-1 overall and 4-3-1 in Hockey East with the victory, while the Warriors drop to 2-8-2 and 1-4-2 in league play.
 
"This was a tremendous come-from-behind character win in a tough building to win in," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "We weathered through some penalty situations, but when we were playing 5-on-5, I thought we were outstanding tonight. This was a good bounce back from last night's effort."
 
Merrimack opened the scoring with a shorthanded 2-on-1 in the second period. Sami Tavernier dished off to Tyler Irvine for the tally at 1:39 off an outlet pass from Zach Uens.
 
The Warriors then pushed their lead to 2-0, quickly converting on a 5-on-3 opportunity after Matthew Kessel was assessed a major and a game misconduct with Bobby Kaiser already in the box for the Minutemen. Mac Welsher drove the puck home from Tavernier and Logan Drevitch at the 9:35 mark, chasing Filip Lindberg from the UMass net.
 
Freshman Cal Kiefiuk halved the deficit for the Minutemen 15:08 into the second, redirecting in a shot from senior Jake McLaughlin at the right point. Freshman Reed Lebster earned and assist on the play, as well.
 
With less than five minutes to go in regulation, sophomore Ty Farmer managed to knot things up at 2-2, flipping the puck through traffic past Troy Kobryn off a feed from freshman Jeremy Davidson and McLaughlin at the 15:27 mark.
 
Just when it appeared the teams would be heading to overtime for a second straight night, Kiefiuk potted the game-winner in the final minute of regulation. He backhanded in his second of the evening when sophomore Colin Felix fed him the puck from below the goal line at 19:18.
 
UMass finished the contest with a 36-23 shot advantage and went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Merrimack was 1-for-5. Matt Murray had nine saves in relief of Lindberg (12 saves) and picked up the win (4-1-0). Kobryn totaled 33 stops for the Warriors.
 
UMass will return to action next Friday, November 29, breaking from Hockey East play for a home-and-home against Quinnipiac, which will begin in Hamden, Connecticut that evening at 7 p.m.
NewMass Minute; Onto TD Garden
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