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University of Massachusets Athletics
Saturday, January 2
Amherst, Mass.
6 p.m.
University of Massachusetts
8-3-1, 8-3-1
5
vs
3
#13/10 Northeastern
3-3-2, 3-3-2
1
2
3
F
Northeastern
0
1
2
3
Massachusetts
3
1
1
5
#9 Massachusetts Hockey Wins Sixth Straight, 5-3 Over #10/13 Northeastern
January 02, 2021 | Hockey
Murray earns 50th career victory, while Kessel, Lopina and Wait each contribute two points apiece for the Minutemen.
AMHERST, Mass. – No. 9 University of Massachusetts hockey rode a 4-0 start to its sixth straight victory, defeating No. 10/13 Northeastern 5-3 at the Mullins Center on Saturday night. With the win, the Minutemen move to 8-3-1, while the Huskies level their record at 3-3-2. The six-game winning streak matches the third longest winning streak in program history.
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"Obviously that's a big weekend for us to sweep Northeastern," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "To win three games in a week, three games in four nights and I thought we did a good job of managing the guys' energy. Playing four lines, I never felt like our guys showed fatigue, so that was a good job by the whole group. We're scoring goals, we're scoring more than I expected this year, but we've got a bad issue of letting up goals in the third period when we have leads, so that's something that we need to attend to. I thought our special teams were strong this weekend. I'm not happy with the number of penalties we're taking, but if we can take care of that, I think that makes us a really tough team to beat."
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Sophomore Jerry Harding began the scoring just 2:33 into the contest as Anthony Del Gaizo and Philip Lagunov found Harding alone in the slot for his first collegiate goal.
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Then, with the teams skating 4-on-4, sophomore Matthew Kessel drew a penalty shot at the 5:35 mark and converted for his sixth goal of the season and fifth tally in the past six games.
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Sophomore Zac Jones then expanded the lead to 3-0 before the intermission, dancing across the blueline and a puck towards the net that found its way through traffic at the 17:26 mark. Kessel and freshman Josh Lopina earned the assists on the play.
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Redshirt senior Carson Gicewicz brought the score to 4-0 at the start of the second, redirecting in his eighth of the season and seventh in the past five games from senior Jake Gaudet and Garrett Wait, 1:46 into the period.
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Northeastern took one of the goals back moments later. Zach Solow connected with a feed from Aidan McDonough and Gunnarwolfe Fontaine for a one-timer on the power play at 3:32.
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McDonough later notched the Huskies' second power-play goal of the night 3:17 into the third period, set up by Grant Jozefek and Jayden Struble to trim their deficit to 4-2.
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Northeastern went on to make it a one-goal game with just over five minutes to play in the third with Dylan Jackson knocking the puck in from the top of the crease off a feed from Jozefek and Kesselring behind the UMass net.
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Wait later sealed the victory with an empty net goal from Lopina and junior Bobby Trivigno, his fourth tally of the season, which came in the final minute of play.
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UMass out-shot Northeastern 37-19 on the night. The Huskies were 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Minutemen were 0-for-3. Massachusetts once again dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 32 of 57 (56.1%) draws, led by Lopina's 13 for 19 (68.4%) effort.
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Matt Murray made 16 saves en route to his 50th career win, matching Gabe Winer's program record for career victories by a goaltender. Huskies' netminder Connor Murphy totaled 32 stops in the contest.
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Kessel and Wait each contributed a goal and an assist apiece and Lopina had two helpers for his second straight multi point game. Trivigno's assist extended his current point scoring streak to six straight games.
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For continued coverage of UMass hockey, follow the team on Twitter (@UMassHockey) and Instagram (@MassachusettsHockey) and on Facebook at facebook.com/UMassHockey.
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"Obviously that's a big weekend for us to sweep Northeastern," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "To win three games in a week, three games in four nights and I thought we did a good job of managing the guys' energy. Playing four lines, I never felt like our guys showed fatigue, so that was a good job by the whole group. We're scoring goals, we're scoring more than I expected this year, but we've got a bad issue of letting up goals in the third period when we have leads, so that's something that we need to attend to. I thought our special teams were strong this weekend. I'm not happy with the number of penalties we're taking, but if we can take care of that, I think that makes us a really tough team to beat."
Â
Sophomore Jerry Harding began the scoring just 2:33 into the contest as Anthony Del Gaizo and Philip Lagunov found Harding alone in the slot for his first collegiate goal.
Â
Then, with the teams skating 4-on-4, sophomore Matthew Kessel drew a penalty shot at the 5:35 mark and converted for his sixth goal of the season and fifth tally in the past six games.
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Sophomore Zac Jones then expanded the lead to 3-0 before the intermission, dancing across the blueline and a puck towards the net that found its way through traffic at the 17:26 mark. Kessel and freshman Josh Lopina earned the assists on the play.
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Redshirt senior Carson Gicewicz brought the score to 4-0 at the start of the second, redirecting in his eighth of the season and seventh in the past five games from senior Jake Gaudet and Garrett Wait, 1:46 into the period.
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Northeastern took one of the goals back moments later. Zach Solow connected with a feed from Aidan McDonough and Gunnarwolfe Fontaine for a one-timer on the power play at 3:32.
Â
McDonough later notched the Huskies' second power-play goal of the night 3:17 into the third period, set up by Grant Jozefek and Jayden Struble to trim their deficit to 4-2.
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Northeastern went on to make it a one-goal game with just over five minutes to play in the third with Dylan Jackson knocking the puck in from the top of the crease off a feed from Jozefek and Kesselring behind the UMass net.
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Wait later sealed the victory with an empty net goal from Lopina and junior Bobby Trivigno, his fourth tally of the season, which came in the final minute of play.
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UMass out-shot Northeastern 37-19 on the night. The Huskies were 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Minutemen were 0-for-3. Massachusetts once again dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 32 of 57 (56.1%) draws, led by Lopina's 13 for 19 (68.4%) effort.
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Matt Murray made 16 saves en route to his 50th career win, matching Gabe Winer's program record for career victories by a goaltender. Huskies' netminder Connor Murphy totaled 32 stops in the contest.
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Kessel and Wait each contributed a goal and an assist apiece and Lopina had two helpers for his second straight multi point game. Trivigno's assist extended his current point scoring streak to six straight games.
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For continued coverage of UMass hockey, follow the team on Twitter (@UMassHockey) and Instagram (@MassachusettsHockey) and on Facebook at facebook.com/UMassHockey.
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Team Stats
NU
UMASS
Shots
19
37
PPG
2
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
6
Penalty Mins
10
12
Faceoffs Won
25
32
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
+2
Goals
1
Sh
5
A
1
+/-
+1
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
1
+/-
+2
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
2
Players Mentioned
F
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G
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F
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