University of Massachusets Athletics
Friday, March 8
Hartford, Conn.
7:05 P.M.
University of Massachusetts
26-8-0, 18-6-0HEA
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at
4
UConn
12-20-2, 7-15-2HEA
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Massachusetts
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UConn
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Photo by: THOM KENDALL FOR UMASS ATHLETICS
Comeback Falls Short For No. 2 Hockey At UConn
March 08, 2019 | Hockey
The Minutemen tied the score at 3-3 early in the third after trailing, 3-0, but the Huskies quickly answered with the eventual game winner.
HARTFORD – 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 on Friday night at the XL Center. The loss leaves UMass at 26-8-0 on the year and 18-6-0 in Hockey East play, while the Huskies wrap up the season at 12-20-2 overall and 7-15-2 in league action.
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"An absolutely uneven game by my team," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "I could tell this morning they weren't in the right frame of mind to play. When we're down 2-0 after the first, we finally decide to play and I've got to sit a bunch of kids down because they didn't want to play tonight. We tie the game up in the third and the next shot is in the back of our net and we play desperate hockey for the rest of the third period and can't find a way to win. It's very disconcerting for me as a coach on March 8 that we can't be excited to play a game. We were once we got down and found a way to score our first goal, but UConn deserved to win tonight, congratulations to them."
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UConn took a 1-0 lead 8:24 into the first period when Benjamin Freeman managed to clean up a loose puck in the crease behind netminder Matt Murray with assists going to Brian Rigali and Kale Howarth.
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The Huskies then expanded their advantage with a shorthanded tally at the 17:53 mark of the opening stanza as Brian Rigali's shot redirected in off the stick of Marc Del Gaizo on an odd-man rush.
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The margin stretched to 3-0 when UConn capitalized on a turnover in front of the UMass net with Jonny Evans dropping the puck off for Ruslan Iskhakov for the score 8:08 into the second.
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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.
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Then, with .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.
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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.
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However, just 36 seconds later, Benjamin Freeman took a pass from Howarth and Roman Kinal and fired it home from just inside the Minutemen blue line for the would-be game winner.
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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.
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UMass will be back in action on Friday, March 15, when the squad will open its best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinals series against No. 8 seed New Hampshire at 7 p.m. in the Mullins Center.
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"An absolutely uneven game by my team," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "I could tell this morning they weren't in the right frame of mind to play. When we're down 2-0 after the first, we finally decide to play and I've got to sit a bunch of kids down because they didn't want to play tonight. We tie the game up in the third and the next shot is in the back of our net and we play desperate hockey for the rest of the third period and can't find a way to win. It's very disconcerting for me as a coach on March 8 that we can't be excited to play a game. We were once we got down and found a way to score our first goal, but UConn deserved to win tonight, congratulations to them."
Â
UConn took a 1-0 lead 8:24 into the first period when Benjamin Freeman managed to clean up a loose puck in the crease behind netminder Matt Murray with assists going to Brian Rigali and Kale Howarth.
Â
The Huskies then expanded their advantage with a shorthanded tally at the 17:53 mark of the opening stanza as Brian Rigali's shot redirected in off the stick of Marc Del Gaizo on an odd-man rush.
Â
The margin stretched to 3-0 when UConn capitalized on a turnover in front of the UMass net with Jonny Evans dropping the puck off for Ruslan Iskhakov for the score 8:08 into the second.
Â
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.
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Then, with .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.
Â
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.
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However, just 36 seconds later, Benjamin Freeman took a pass from Howarth and Roman Kinal and fired it home from just inside the Minutemen blue line for the would-be game winner.
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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.
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UMass will be back in action on Friday, March 15, when the squad will open its best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinals series against No. 8 seed New Hampshire at 7 p.m. in the Mullins Center.
Team Stats
UMASS
UCONN
Shots
36
20
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
1
Penalties
1
2
Penalty Mins
2
4
Faceoffs Won
28
28
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
+1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
-1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
2
+/-
-3
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ HockeyF
/ HockeyD
/ Hockey
F
/ Hockey
G
/ HockeyD
/ Hockey
G
/ Hockey
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/ HockeyF
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