University of Massachusets Athletics
Saturday, October 2
Amherst, Mass.
7:30 p.m.
University of Massachusetts
0-1-0
0
vs
2
#5 Minnesota State
1-0-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota St. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Massachusetts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Photo by: THOM KENDALL FOR UMASS ATHLETICS
#1 Massachusetts Hockey Topped By #5 Minnesota State, 2-0
October 02, 2021 | Hockey
The Minutemen opened the season on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,412 at the Mullins Center.
AMHERST, Mass. – No. 1 Massachusetts hockey came up short against No. 5 in its season opener in front of a sold-out crowd at the Mullins Center, falling to the Mavericks, 2-0 on Saturday night. The loss leaves the Minutemen at 0-1, while Minnesota State begins the year at 1-0.
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"I spent most of the summer worrying that this would happen," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "They're a very good team, a much hungrier team that paid much more attention to detail. We've got a lot of new players on our team that we need to catch up to speed. We got what we deserved tonight. Congratulations to Minnesota State, they're a very well-coached team. You can tell they're a mature, experienced team and we did not play very close to our identity."
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Minnesota State opened the contest with a power-play goal just 55 seconds into the first period after Matthew Kessel was sent to the box for interference at the 10 second mark. Reggie Lutz picked up a feed from Cade Borchardt and Nathan Smith below the goal line and sent a wrister past Matt Murray from the right faceoff dot.
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UMass threatened to tie things up with a 2-on-1 chance shorthanded early in the second period, but Josh Lopina was stopped by Dryden McKay.
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The Minutemen then started the third with sustained offensive pressure, but were still unable to solve McKay.
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Minnesota State ultimately sealed the contest with its second of the night with less than five minutes to play in the third. Julian Napravnik tapped home a loose puck in the crease from Smtih and Benton Maass at the 15:50 mark.
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The Mavericks finished the night with a 32-18 shot advantage and went 1-for-4 on the power play, while UMass was 0-for-5.
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Murray totaled 30 saves for the Minutemen and McKay stopped 18 shots for Minnesota State.
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The teams will close out the weekend series tomorrow, Oct. 3, with a 4 p.m. matchup at the Mullins Center.
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"I spent most of the summer worrying that this would happen," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "They're a very good team, a much hungrier team that paid much more attention to detail. We've got a lot of new players on our team that we need to catch up to speed. We got what we deserved tonight. Congratulations to Minnesota State, they're a very well-coached team. You can tell they're a mature, experienced team and we did not play very close to our identity."
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Minnesota State opened the contest with a power-play goal just 55 seconds into the first period after Matthew Kessel was sent to the box for interference at the 10 second mark. Reggie Lutz picked up a feed from Cade Borchardt and Nathan Smith below the goal line and sent a wrister past Matt Murray from the right faceoff dot.
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UMass threatened to tie things up with a 2-on-1 chance shorthanded early in the second period, but Josh Lopina was stopped by Dryden McKay.
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The Minutemen then started the third with sustained offensive pressure, but were still unable to solve McKay.
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Minnesota State ultimately sealed the contest with its second of the night with less than five minutes to play in the third. Julian Napravnik tapped home a loose puck in the crease from Smtih and Benton Maass at the 15:50 mark.
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The Mavericks finished the night with a 32-18 shot advantage and went 1-for-4 on the power play, while UMass was 0-for-5.
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Murray totaled 30 saves for the Minutemen and McKay stopped 18 shots for Minnesota State.
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The teams will close out the weekend series tomorrow, Oct. 3, with a 4 p.m. matchup at the Mullins Center.
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Players Mentioned
Team Stats
MNS
UMA
Shots
32
18
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
4
Penalty Mins
10
8
Faceoffs Won
33
27
Game Leaders
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
0
+/-
-1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
0
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Tuesday, May 05