Top-Seeded Minutemen Set To Host UNH For Hockey East Quarterfinals

University of Massachusetts Hockey Game Notes
Games 35-37	No. 1 Seed Massachusetts Minutemen (26-8-0, 18-6-0 HEA) vs. No. 8 Seed New Hampshire Wildcats (12-13-9, 8-10-6 HEA)
Dates \| Times	Friday, March 15, 2019 - 7 p.m. Saturday, Match 16, 2019 - 7 p.m. Sunday, March 17, 2019 (if necessary) - 7 p.m.
Locations	Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center - 8,096)
Series History	New Hampshire leads 89-23-22; Last meeting, 4-2, UMass in Amherst, Mass.
Live Statistics	Sidearm
Watch Live	FloHockey.tv ($)
Listen (Radio)	WHMP AM 1400/1240 FM 101.5/107.5
Listen (Online)	WHMP Streaming Player \| TuneIn App (mobile devices)
Game Notes	Massachusetts \| New Hampshire \| Hockey East
Team Records	Massachusetts \| New Hampshire
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	Friday \| Saturday \| Sunday (if necessary)
Game Promotions	none

Quick Hits: UMass Edged By UConn In Regular Season Finale
- No. 2 University of Massachusetts hockey erased a 3-0 deficit, but UConn managed to immediately answer the tying goal and held on to defeat the Minutemen, 4-3 last Friday night at the XL Center in the teams' regular season finale.
- UConn took a 1-0 lead 8:24 into the first period then expanded their advantage with a shorthanded tally at the 17:53 mark of the opening stanza.
- The margin stretched to 3-0 when UConn capitalized on a turnover in front of the UMass net 8:08 into the second.
- In the closing moments of the second period, the Minutemen pulled back to within a goal. Taking advantage of a power play opportunity, sophomore Cale Makar sent the puck down low to senior Jacob Pritchard and Pritchard found freshman Bobby Trivigno in front for the redirection at 18:48.
- Then, with 0.2 seconds remaining in the stanza, Del Gaizo's shot from the point found its way through traffic after Makar kicked the puck out to his defensive partner from the slot.
- UMass managed to tie the score at 3-3 just 45 seconds into the third period when sophomore Mitchell Chaffee deposited a feed from Jake Gaudet into the UConn net for his 16th goal of the season.
- However, just 36 seconds later, Benjamin Freeman fired home a shot from just inside the Minutemen blue line for the would-be game winner.
- UMass ended the night with a 36-20 shot advantage and went 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Huskies were 0-for-1. All three Minutemen goaltenders split the game playing one period apiece, Murray making five saves, Filip Lindberg seven and Brad Arvanitis four. Tomas Vomacka had 33 stops for UConn.

Makar's Milestones
- With two assists against UConn last Friday, sophomore Cale Makar logged his 41st and 42nd points of the season to break UMass Hall of Famer and All-American Thomas Poeck's record for points in single season by a UMass defenseman (41), set in 2003-04.
- He finished with 30 points in league contests, becoming the first defenseman to post 30 points in Hockey East play since 2000-01.
- Makar also is just the sixth Hockey East defenseman to reach 40 points since 1999-2000.

A Day For The History Books
- On Feb. 28, No. 2 University of Massachusetts hockey scored three goals in the third period, to rally for a 4-2 come-from-behind win at Merrimack that secured the Minutemen's first-ever Hockey East regular season title.
- Sophomore Matt Murray made 18 saves en route to a program-record 20th win of the season (20-5-0) and classmate Cale Makar's three-point effort helped the Minutemen to the win with a power-play goal, a shorthanded empty net goal and an assist on the game winner. He broke Thomas Poeck's record for assists by a defenseman in a single season with his 26th helper of the year coming against the Warriors.

Trio Of Minutemen Up For Walter Brown Award
- Forwards Mitchell Chaffee, John Leonard and Jacob Pritchard are among 20 semifinalists for the 67th Walter Brown Award. Presented annually by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston to the best American-born college hockey player in New England, the Walter Brown Award is the nation's oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor.
- The Gridiron Club will announce the finalists and winner of the 67th Walter Brown Award in March, following league playoffs and before the start of NCAA Tournament play. The award will be presented to the winner at the New England College Hockey Writers' Dinner in April.

Del Gaizo Honored After Four-Point Effort
- Freshman defenseman Marc Del Gaizo was tabbed the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Jan. 7, earning his first career weekly award, what was then the seventh collected by a member of the Minutemen this season.
- The Basking Ridge, New Jersey native set a new season-best with a four-point effort in the Minutemen's 6-1 win on the road at American International on Jan. 5. Del Gaizo scored UMass' 20th power-play goal of the year and added three assists, factoring in four of the squad's six tallies on the afternoon, including setting up his brother Anthony's game-winning goal.
- Through 34 games, Del Gaizo now has 24 points on the season on 12 goals and 12 assists and is tied with defensive partner Cale Makar at a team-best +28. He is tied for fourth in Hockey East in defenseman scoring, tied for fifth in freshman scoring, tied for the league lead in plus-minus and is in the top-10 in power-play goals (6, t-4th) and power-play points (12, t-8th).
- Del Gaizo is the first rookie defenseman in Hockey East history to score 10 goals in league play, which ties him for fifth overall on the Hockey East list for goals by a defenseman in a single season.

Lindberg Wins Gold With Finland
- Freshman goaltender Filip Lindberg became the third Minuteman in program history to win gold at the IIHF World Junior Championship when Team Finland defeated the United States, 3-2 in the Gold Medal Game on Jan. 5 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
- The Espoo, Finland native joined current teammate Cale Makar who took home the 2018 title with Canada last year and former UMass forward Stephen Werner (2002-06), who won a Gold Medal with Team USA in 2004.
- Lindberg earned an 18-save shutout in Finland's 5-0 victory over Kazakhstan in the Preliminary Round. He has appeared in 10 games thus far as a freshman for the Minutemen this season and holds a 1.87 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage over 513 minutes in net..

A Minute On Murray
- Sophomore goaltender Matt Murray was selected as the Hockey East Stop It Goaltending Goaltender of the Month for November after starting six of seven games for UMass over the month and posting a 6-0-0 record.
- He logged a 2.15 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage to help the Minutemen to their first undefeated month at 7-0-0 since Dec. 1970, which included three wins over ranked teams and a 5-0-0 record in league action.
- The St. Albert, Alberta native was named Hockey East Player of the Week on Nov. 11 after a weekend sweep of Providence where he made 58 saves over the pair of victories and picked up his first career assist in a 3-2 win over No. 18 Princeton.
- Murray was the first goaltender in UMass' Division I history to start a season 11-0-0. He currently holds a 2.04 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage, which rank second and sixth in Hockey East and 10th and 17th nationally.
- With a record of 20-5-0, Murray holds the second best winning percentage at .800.
- With his 4-2 victory at Merrimack on Feb. 28, which clinched UMass' Hockey East regular season title, Murray broke Jonathan Quick's record for wins in a season by a UMass goaltender (19 in 2006-07) with his 20th win of the year.

Cream Of The Crop
- UMass enters this weekend's Hockey East quarterfinals as the top seed for the Hockey East Tournament after capturing the program's first-ever regular season title. UMass' best finish in league play prior to this season was third in 2003-04.
- The Minutemen are currently first in Hockey East in goals per-game (3.76), second in scoring defense (2.06), first in power play (29.5%) and special teams net (+22) and fourth in penalty kill (86.2%).
- All three of the league's top scorers are Minutemen as Cale Makar is first (42 points), Mitchell Chaffee is second (40 points) and Jacob Pritchard is third (39 points). John Leonard is sixth as well (34 points).
- Chaffee is tied for second in the league in goals (16), Pritchard is tied for sixth (14) and Leonard and Makar are tied for eighth (13).
- Makar (29), Pritchard (25), Chaffee (24) Leonard (21) are first, tied for third, fifth and 10th, respectively, in assists.
- Pritchard (23 points, 1st), Leonard (17 points, 3rd), Chaffee (14 points, t-4th), Makar (13 points, 7th) and Marc Del Gaizo (12 points, t-8th) are all among the top eight in power-play points. Pritchard is tied for the league lead in power-play goals (7) while Leonard, Chaffee and Marc Del Gaizo are tied for fourth (6).
- Four Minutemen occupy the league's top-five in plus-minus: Makar (t-1st, +28), Marc Del Gaizo (t-1st, +28), Jake Gaudet (t-3rd, +22) and Chaffee (t-5th, +21).

It's Been A While…
- UMass' six goals in the 2018-19 opener vs. Rensselaer 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).
- Also in the season opener vs. RPI, 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.
- UMass' seven-goal output against UConn on Nov. 30 was the Minutemen's highest scoring output since Nov. 7, 2014 against American International.
- The sellout against No. 8 Quinnipiac on Dec. 8 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 16th largest crowd to ever witness a UMass hockey game.
- UMass' six goals against No. 8 Northeastern on Jan 18 matched the highest scoring output vs. a ranked team in program history—the Minutemen scored six goals against No. 18 Vermont (6-2, W) on Nov. 24, 2009 and six against No. 3 Northeastern (6-4, W) on Jan. 30, 2009.
- Cale Makar's 42 points so far are the most by a member of the Minutemen since James Marcou (51) and Casey Wellman (45) in 2009-10.
- The Minutemen have already broken a program record for goals in a single season during the program's Hockey East era, currently with 128. The previous high was 119 in 1995-96 (35 games), 1996-97 (35 games) and 2002-03 (37 games). Overall, 128 goals ranks fifth all-time in program history.

Rankings History
- History was made on Dec. 3 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 finds itself in the No. 2 spot this week, its 17th straight week in the top five.
- UMass entered the national rankings on Oct. 22, coming in at No. 16 in the USCHO.com poll. The last time the Minutemen were ranked prior to this October was in the USCHO.com poll released on Feb. 15, 2010.
- On November 5, 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 this November when, on Nov. 12, 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, sitting at No. 3 in both polls on Nov. 26.
- 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 earned 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 earned its first No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

Special Teams Success
- A key piece of the Minutemen's success thus far in the 2018-19 campaign has been its special teams units. UMass has scored at least one power-play goal in 22 of 34 games and has logged multiple power-play goals on 11 occasions this season.
- The Minutemen currently rank first in Hockey East by a healthy margin with a 29.5 (38-for-129) power play percentage, which is first in the nation, as well.
- On the penalty kill, the Minutemen are fourth in Hockey East and 10th in the nation with a 86.2% PK percentage. UMass leads the nation in combined special teams at 57.9%.
- With their 38th power-play goal of the year coming at UConn on March 8, the Minutemen tied the program record for power-play goals in a season set in 1995-96.

Look Out For Leno
- After registering just a goal and an assist through the first four games of the season, sophomore John Leonard heated up in a big way with the start of Hockey East play.
- In the opening weekend of league action, Leonard totaled six points over the two contests on a goal and five assists and was +4 in a two-game sweep of Merrimack, factoring in six of the nine goals the Minutemen scored on the weekend.
- In the road matchup with the Warriors, Leonard assisted both the game-tying extra attacker goal with 33 seconds to play in regulation and the overtime game winner. He finished the night with three assists and was tabbed the Hockey East Player of the Week for his efforts.
- On Nov. 3 at New Hampshire, Leonard contributed a goal and two assists against the Wildcats and capped his streak of four straight multi-point games with a goal and an assist in the Nov. 8 win over #4/3 Providence.
- Leonard was named the UMass Student-Athlete of the Week after scoring two power-play goals against Boston College on Feb 15 and 16.
- Leonard finished league play 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).

Fitting Right In
- Graduate transfer Jacob Pritchard, who is in his first season with the Minutemen after playing three seasons at St. Lawrence, wasted little time finding his way onto the scoresheet at UMass.
- Pritchard had three points in his UMass debut, a 6-1 win over Rensselaer in the season opener, on a goal and two assists.
- He added three more points to his season total during the Merrimack series, logging a goal on Friday and a goal and an assist in the second game of the weekend against the Warriors. He followed up with his third multi-point game of the season at UNH on Nov. 3, contributing a goal and an assist. He wrapped up a four-game point streak with an assist in the Nov. 8 win over #4/3 Providence.
- Pritchard posted his second three-point game of the year with a goal and two assists, all on the power play, in a 4-2 win over New Hampshire on Nov. 18 and was named the UMass Student-Athlete of the Week.
- In the month of January, Pritchard led Hockey East in scoring with 12 points (5g, 7a) over eight games with four multi-point efforts. He is currently third for the Minutemen and Hockey East in scoring with 39 points in 34 games. He is tied for 17th nationally in points per-game (1.15).
- Pritchard is tied for second in the nation in power play points with 23 (7g, 16a) and is tied for 19th nationally in power-play goals.
- Pritchard was named UMass Student-Athlete of the Week (1/22) after a four-point weekend (1g, 3a) in a weekend split with No. 8 Northeastern, which included a three-point performance in UMass' 6-1 win over the Huskies on Jan. 18.

Picking Up Where He Left Off
- Sophomore Mitchell Chaffee opened up the 2018-19 season with three goals in the two-game series vs. Rensselaer (Oct. 12-13), which included the game winner in the second contest vs. the Engineers, helping him earn co-UMass Student-Athlete of the Week (10/15) honors.
- He has scored goals in 14 out of 33 games so far and has posted 12 multi-point games and a five-game point scoring streak.
- On Nov. 3 vs. New Hampshire, Chaffee set a then single-game high with a three-point night (1g, 2a) and was named co-UMass Student-Athlete of the Week for a second time this season.
- He surpassed that single game best with two goals and two assists against UConn on Nov. 30 and once again garnered UMass Student-Athlete of the Week honors. Chaffee set a new single-game career high with three assists against Boston College on Feb. 15.
- Chaffee currently leads the Minutemen with 16 goals after tying for the team lead in goals last season with 13 in 39 contests.
- He is currently second in Hockey East in points (40), tied for second in goals (16), fifth in assists (24), tied for fourth in power-play points (14), tied for fourth in power-play goals (6) and tied for fifth in plus-minus (+21).

#HobeyNeedsMoreCale
- Hobey Baker candidate sophomore Cale Makar has made his presence known to UMass' opponents since the start of season and was selected as the Hockey East Player of the Month for October after leading Hockey East in scoring over the opening month of the season with 11 points on three goals and eight assists in six games and was +4. He was named the Hockey East Player of the Week twice in October (10/22 and 10/15).
- Makar posted at least one point in five of six contests with three multi-point games, helping the Minutemen to a 5-1-0 record, the first five-win October in program history.
- The Calgary, Alberta native set a single game career-high with four points on two goals and two assists in the season opener vs. Rensselaer on Oct. 12, marking the first time a UMass skater had a four-point game since Oct. 16, 2015 and first time a 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 also had a three-point night to help UMass upset then-No. 1 ranked Ohio State on the road, 6-3 on Oct. 19.
- To open up Hockey East play Makar contributed three assists in a weekend sweep of Merrimack (10/26 and 10/27), which included assisting UMass' game-tying extra attacker goal against the Warriors with 27 seconds to go in regulation on the road in game two, a game the Minutemen went on to win in overtime.
- Makar tied his career-single game high with four points (2g, 2a) in UMass' 5-1 win over Vermont on Jan. 12 and was selected as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week following that performance.
- He was again selected as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on March 4, his fourth weekly award of the season, after putting up four on two goals and two assists to help the Minutemen go 2-0-0 and clinch the program's first-ever Hockey East Regular Season Championship.
- At Merrimack on Feb. 28 he had a three-point night with his first power-play goal of the season, a shorthanded goal and an assist on the game winner in the 4-2 come-from behind victory over the Warriors. The assist was his 26th of the year, which set a new program single-season record for assists by a defenseman. He also added an assist in a dominating 6-0 shutout of Maine for his team-leading 40th point of the season, becoming the first Minuteman to hit the 40 point plateau since 2009-10.
- Makar is currently tied for seventh in the nation in points per-game (1.24), tied for sixth in assists per-game (0.85) and is third in defenseman scoring. Overall he leads Hockey East in points (42), is first in assists (29), tied for ninth in goals (13), seventh in power play points (32) and is tied for first in plus minus (+28).
- He capped a five-game point streak on Nov. 3 with a goal and an assist at New Hampshire, a career high, and has set a new career best for goals in a season after posting five tallies in 34 games as a freshman.
- On Feb. 1 against BU, Makar joined an elite club, becoming just the third UMass defenseman to post 30 points in the season, joining UMass Hall of Famer and All-American Thomas Poeck (41 points in 2003-04 and 37 points in 2002-03) and All-American and NHL veteran Justin Braun (31 points in 2009-10). He broke Poeck's single-season record with his 42nd point of the year coming at UConn on March 8.

Down Goes No. 1
- UMass' 6-3 win on the road against then-No. 1 Ohio State on Oct. 19 marked the Minutemen's fifth-ever win in program history over a No. 1-ranked team and second-ever on the road. The last time in both instances came at No. 1 Boston University on Feb. 10, 2012.
- The Minutemen's other three wins against No. 1 teams were: 11/5/11 vs. Boston College (5-1), 11/14/08 vs. Boston University (5-1) and 1/28/95 vs. Maine (4-2).

Notable Firsts
- All seven UMass freshmen skaters made their collegiate debuts against Rensselaer on Oct. 12, while goaltender Filip 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. He had another multi-point game at #1 Ohio State on Oct. 19, scoring the first two goals of his career vs. the Buckeyes.
- Defenseman Colin Felix had an assist on Oct. 13 at RPI for his first collegiate point.
- Farmer picked up his first collegiate assist in UMass' 5-1 win over Merrimack on Oct. 26. Anthony Del Gaizo earned his first collegiate helper on his brother Marc's overtime game winner the following night at Merrimack on Oct. 27.
- Freshman Bobby Kaiser scored the game-winning goal at Holy Cross on Nov. 16 for his first career tally.
- Sophomore Matt Murray picked up his first career assist on UMass' first goal of the game in a 3-2 win over Princeton.
- Freshman Filip Lindberg earned his first collegiate shutout with 16 saves vs. Maine on March 2.

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 10th 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 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.

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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