University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
AIC
#13 Massachusetts Hockey Set For Season Opener at AIC
October 06, 2022 | Hockey
The Minutemen will play the Yellow Jackets in Springfield on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
| Game 1 | #13 Massachusetts Minutemen (0-0-0) at AIC Yellow Jackets (0-1-1) |
| Date | Time | Saturday, October 8, 2022 | 7:05 p.m. |
| Location | Springfield, Mass. (MassMutual Center - 6,866) |
| Series History | AIC leads 22-18-1 |
| Live Statistics | Presto Sports |
| Watch Live | FloHockey ($) |
| Listen (Radio) | WHMP FM 101.5, AM 1400/1240 |
| Listen (Online) | WHMP Streaming Player | App: Download The Varsity Sports Network on your mobile device |
| Game Notes | Massachusetts | AIC |
| Team Records | Massachusetts | AIC |
| @UMassHockey | @UMassAthletics | |
| UMass Hockey | UMass Athletics | |
| Tickets | Saturday |
SETTING THE SCENE
- Saturday's game at AIC will officially kick off the seventh season of the Greg Carvel era at UMass. The Minutemen underwent several staff changes in the offseason as Tom Upton signed on as an assistant coach, coming to Amherst from the USHL, Nolan Gluchowski was elevated into an assistant coach role and former UMass forward Jacob Pritchard has returned as a volunteer assistant coach.
- Seventeen players from UMass' 2022 Hockey East Championship squad are back for 2022-23—10 forwards, five defensemen and two goaltenders. The Minutemen return 50 of their 117 goals from last season, 42.7%, and 47.2% of their points (150 of 318).
IN CARVEL WE TRUST
- Under head coach Greg Carvel, the Minutemen are 7-2 in the NCAA Tournament with two trips to the National Final (2019 and 2021) and one National Championship (2021) and have made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under Carvel.
- UMass is 20-37 all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, 10-6 under Carvel and 8-1 since 2019 with back-to-back Hockey East Tournament titles, the first two in program history.
- Overall under Carvel (Hockey East and NCAA Tournament) UMass' postseason record is 17-8 with two Hockey East Championships, two Regional Championships and one National Championship.
- Carvel, seven seasons into his UMass tenure, has led the Minutemen to four consecutive seasons of 20+ wins, including a program-record 31 wins in 2018-19, the second-highest wins total in program history (22 in 2021-22), 21 wins in 2019-20 (tied-third) and 20 wins in 2020-21 (tied-fifth).
- Carvel won his 100th game at the helm for the Minutemen on November 6, 2021 at Providence. He earned his 200th career victory on March, 12, 2022 vs. the Friars in the Hockey East Quarterfinals.
- Entering the 2022-23 campaign, UMass trails only Minnesota State (152), Minnesota Duluth (113) and Quinnipiac (112) for most wins over the past five seasons with 111.
THE PREMIERE DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM IN COLLEGE HOCKEY
- In August of 2021, Massachusetts Hockey was named the top developmental program in NCAA Men's College Hockey by The Hockey News.
- In the Greg Carvel era, 12 Minutemen have signed NHL contracts, including eight individuals who came to UMass undrafted. Five additional players have signed AHL deals.
- Carvel mentored 2019 Hobey Baker winner Cale Makar who has since gone on to win the Calder Trophy, the Norris Trophy and the Conn Smythe Trophy while leading the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup in 2022. Makar is one of three Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalists Carvel has coached at UMass, including John Leonard and Bobby Trivigno.
-Â Under Carvel, Minutemen have earned seven All-America honors, 19 Hockey East All-Star nods and six New England All-Star recognitions. He has coached the program's first two Hockey East Players of the Year in Makar and Trivigno and its first Hockey East Rookie of the year in Josh Lopina.
- Massachusetts was tied for seventh on the list of schools who produced the most 2021-22 NHLers with 13.
SENIOR TRIO TO LEAD MINUTEMEN IN 2022-23
- UMass has named senior forward Eric Faith as team captain for 2022-23. His classmates, forwards Reed Lebster and Jerry Harding, will serve as the assistant captains for the defending Hockey East Champions.
- Faith has logged 11 points over three seasons with the Maroon & White on three goals and eight assists including two game winners over 67 contests and is a key asset for the Minutemen over the faceoff dots. He appeared in a career-high 32 games as a junior in 2021-22 and is a native of Carp, Ontario.
- Lebster enters his senior campaign with 35 career points over 82 games on 20 goals and 15 assists, with four power-play goals, three game winners and is +14. The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native saw action in 36 of 37 contests last season and registered a career high 18 points on nine goals and nine assists to finish sixth in the squad in points and fifth in goals.
- Harding, a Canton, Massachusetts native, has played in 55 games over the past two seasons after transferring from Providence following his freshman season. He has tallied three goals and four assists for seven points in a UMass uniform.
PROSPECTS APLENTY
- The Massachusetts roster features 10 NHL draft picks, the most in program history, which is tied for eighth nationally and tied for third in Hockey East. Six of the 10 draftees are newcomers to the squad for 2022-23, including a pair of transfers in senior forward Josh Nodler (Calgary, 2019 fifth round) and junior goaltender Cole Brady (New Jersey, 2019 fifth round) along with freshmen forwards Tyson Dyck (Ottawa, 2022 seventh round), Kenny Connors (Los Angeles, 2022 fourth round) and Cole O'Hara (Nashville, 2022 fourth round), and freshman defenseman Noah Ellis (Vegas, 2020 sixth round).
- The four returning draftees are all sophomores: Scott Morrow (Carolina, 2021 second round), Taylor Makar (Colorado, 2021 seventh round), Lucas Mercuri (Carolina, 2020 sixth round) and Ryan Ufko (Nashville, 2021 fourth round).
YOUNG GUNS
- Scott Morrow heads into this weekend's action tied for fifth among the nation's freshmen in goals (13), seventh in points (33) and 10th in points per-game (.917). He is second among rookie defensemen in points per-game, goals and points and tied for fourth in assists (20).
- Among all defensemen nationally, Morrow is seventh in points per-game, tied for fourth in goals and points.
- Morrow's three-point weekend against Vermont brought his total to 30 on the season, making him just the fourth defenseman in program history to reach the 30-point plateau and first to do so as a freshman. His 13 goals currently rank tied for fourth-most by a defenseman in a single season in program history. The only UMass defensemen to score more in a single season are Thomas Poeck (twice) and Cale Makar (16 in 2018-19).
- Ryan Ufko is third among freshmen defensemen with 24 assists and ranks tied for third in points (29) and third in points per-game (.806).
A YEAR TO REMEMBER
- UMass ended a tumultuous 2020-21 season by capturing its first-ever NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship, defeating St. Cloud State, 5-0 in the 2021 National Championship Game on April 10 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- The Minutemen outscored their opponents 27-6 in the 2020-21 postseason and 17-3 in the NCAA Tournament. UMass head coach Greg Carvel garnered recognition from College Hockey News and USCHO.com, honored as the 2021 National Coach of the Year by both media outlets.
- In 2020-21, UMass earned the No. 3 seed in the Hockey East Tournament and the squad won three games on home ice to secure the Minutemen's first Hockey East Tournament Championship.
- Five Minutemen garnered Hockey East All-Star honors, the second highest total in program history, while Bobby Trivigno was named the program's first-ever winner of the Walter Brown Award as the best American-born player in New England.
- UMass ended the 2020-21 campaign on a 14-game unbeaten streak, the longest unbeaten streak in program history, going 11-0-3 from January 22 to April 10. The Minutemen finished with a 20-5-4 record, the fewest losses for an NCAA Champion since Maine's 40-1-2 season in 1992-93.
BLUELINERS BACK
- The Minutemen return three individuals on the blueline who saw significant time in the lineup last season, led by 2022 First Team All-American and First Team Hockey East All-Star Scott Morrow. Morrow, the first rookie in program history to earn All-America recognition, is one of just four First Team All-Americans returning to college hockey in 2022-23.
- He will look to build on an impressive freshman campaign which saw him finish second for UMass in scoring with 33 points on 13 goals and 20 assists, appearing in all 37 games. He ended the season tied for sixth among the nation's freshmen in goals (13), seventh in points (33) and 11th in points per-game (.892). He was third among rookie defensemen in points per-game, second in goals and points and fifth in assists (20).
- Among all defensemen nationally, Morrow finished eighth in points per-game, tied for fourth in goals and fifth in points. He finished his rookie campaign +11 and contributed three power-play goals and three game winners. The Darien Connecticut native became the fourth defenseman in program history to reach the 30-point plateau and first to do so as a freshman, later joined by classmate Ryan Ufko. Morrow's 13 goals tied for fourth-most by a defenseman in a single season in program history, with the only Minutemen defensemen to score more in a single season being UMass Hall of Famer Thomas Poeck (twice) and Hobey Baker winner Cale Makar (16 in 2018-19).
- Morrow was Hockey East's top scoring rookie and led all defensemen in league play with 23 points over 24 games. He tied for seventh with 11 goals and tied for sixth in points per-game (9.583), first among rookies and first among defensemen in both categories.
- Ufko was a Hockey East Honorable Mention All-Star and a Hockey East All-Rookie Team honoree last season and finished second on the squad in assists with 26 over 37 games to go along with five goals for 31 points, good for third on the Minutemen roster. He led Hockey East in league play with 19 assists in 24 games and tied for sixth in scoring in league action with 22 points as he also netted three goals.
- Ufko finished tied for the national lead among rookie defensemen in assists and third among rookie defensemen in points. He contributed three power-play goals and one shorthanded goal and posted a +5 rating on the year.
- Junior Aaron Bohlinger missed time due to injury last season but still managed to put up 13 points (2g, 11a) over 30 games, including the overtime game winner over UConn in the Hockey East title game. Two of his three career goals are championship clinchers as he also had the game winner for the Minutemen in the 2021 National Championship vs. St. Cloud State.
NEXT STOP: AMHERST, MA
- The Minutemen have five players on their 2022-23 roster who began their collegiate careers at other institutions before electing to transfer to UMass, including four new arrivals for this season.
- 6-5, 181-pound left catch goaltender Cole Brady, a 2019 fifth round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils (127th overall), comes to UMass as a transfer out of Arizona State and will be a junior for the Minutemen this fall. Over two years with the Sun Devils, Brady appeared in 25 games with 23 starts and posted a 3.60 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage with one shutout. He had 30+ saves in 17 games and recorded 40+ saves on five occasions.
- 5-10, 180-pound, left-shot forward Matt Koopman joins the Minutemen as a graduate transfer following four years at Providence. Koopman saw action in 113 games with the Friars and posted 32 points on 15 goals and 17 assists and was +7. As a freshman, he was part of the Providence squad that reached the 2019 Frozen Four.
- 5-11, 193-pound, left-shot defenseman Elliott McDermott comes to UMass following two seasons at Colgate and will have junior eligibility this season. McDermott appeared in 62 games over two seasons at Colgate and registered 19 points on four goals and 15 assists. The Kingston, Ontario native was a two-time ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team and Raider Academic Honor Roll member.
- 5-10, 195-pound, right-shot forward Josh Nodle, a 2019 fifth round (150th overall) draft pick of the Calgary Flames, joins the Minutemen after playing three seasons at Michigan State and will be a senior at UMass this season. Nodler appeared in 99 games over three seasons with the Spartans and registered 34 points on 13 goals and 21 assists with five power-play goals and two game winners. The Oak Park, Michigan native won 54.1% of his faceoffs last season, good for second on the team, while taking a squad-best 573 draws. Nodler earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2020-21 and 2021-22, won the team's Amo Bessone Award, honoring athletic and academic achievement along with community involvement in 2020-21 and was an AHCA Krampade All-American Scholar in 2019-20, while also earning the team's Rookie of the Year award.
- The transfer portal has been kind to the Minutemen in recent memory—St. Lawrence transfer Carson Gicewicz led UMass in with 17 goals in 2020-21 with four coming at the NCAA Regional. Minnesota transfer Garrett Wait scored the overtime game winner against Minnesota Duluth to send UMass to the 2021 National Championship game and finished with 17 points (9g, 8a) in his first season with the Minutemen. Providence transfer Jerry Harding has brought a physical presence to the UMass and is now wearing a letter as a senior.
- In the Minutemen's 2018-19 run to the National Championship game, St. Lawrence transfer Jacob Pritchard put up 47 points in 41 games that season, including seven power-play goals.
MINUTEMEN MAKING RETURN TO FRIENDSHIP FOUR
- Massachusetts hockey will make its return to Belfast, Northern Ireland as a participant in the 2022 Friendship Four. The Minutemen, who first played in the tournament in 2016, will be joined by UMass Lowell, Dartmouth and Quinnipiac in the four-team field.
- UMass will face UMass Lowell in the opening round on Friday, November 25, at 7 p.m. GMT (2 p.m. EST) and will play either Dartmouth or Quinnipiac in either the third-place game (3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. EST) or Championship (7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. EST) on Saturday, November 26 at SSE Arena in Belfast.
- The Friendship Four was born in Belfast in 2015, marking the start of a highly popular international ice hockey tournament that continues to grow to this day. The tournament was devised and has been developed by The Odyssey Trust, to promote education, social welfare, and community integration in Northern Ireland, building on the sister cities agreement between Belfast and Boston. The tournament last took place in Belfast in 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. UMass took on Vermont and St. Lawrence in its first trip to the Friendship Four in 2016 during Carvel's first season in Amherst.
2022 POST-HOLIDAY PLANS SORTED
- The Minutemen will compete in the 2022 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on December 28-29. UMass will join Clarkson, Lake Superior State and Wisconsin in the four-team field.
- Semifinals of the second annual Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off will take place on Wednesday, December 28 with the Championship game and third-place game on Thursday, December 29. The Minutemen will open the Tournament against Clarkson and will play either Lake Superior State or Wisconsin in the consolation/championship round.
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
- UMass went 67-19-5 at the Mullins Center over the past three seasons (2018-present) for a .764 winning percentage. This stretch included a 16-game unbeaten streak (15-0-1) that began on Jan. 11, 2019 against Vermont and came to an end on Nov. 30, 2019 with a 2-1 loss to Quinnipiac.
CHARTING SUCCESS
- Heading into 2022-23, the Minutemen have been nationally ranked in 94 straight poll weeks since October 22, 2018 after previously not being ranked in either poll since February 2010, currently setting at No. 13 in both polls.
- For the first time in program history, the Minutemen were No. 1 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey preseason polls in 2021-22, in addition to being selected as the preseason favorite in Hockey East. UMass entered the 2019-20 season ranked No. 4 in the USCHO.com poll and No. 5 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, which was the first time the Minutemen opened a season ranked in either poll. The Maroon & White debuted at No. 10 in the 2022-23 preseason polls.
- History was made on Dec. 3, 2018 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 was ranked for 20 straight weeks to end the 2018-19 season and earned a No. 2 ranking in the final polls.
- UMass entered the national rankings on Oct. 22, 2018 coming in at No. 16 in the USCHO.com poll. The last time the Minutemen were ranked prior to October 2018 was in the USCHO.com poll released on Feb. 15, 2010.
- On November 5, 2018, 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 on Nov. 12, 2018 when 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, moving up to No. 3 in both polls on Nov. 26, 2018.
- 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 collected 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 received its first No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
BLOODLINES AND FAMILY TIES
- Taylor Makar and his brother Cale (2017-19) are the fifth set of brothers to wear the Maroon & White in the program's modern era. The other four sets of brothers are: Anthony Del Gaizo (2018-22) and Marc Del Gaizo (2018-21), 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.
- Linden Alger's father, Richard, played for UMass in the program's inaugural Division I season (1993-94) and then played the next two campaigns at Boston University (1995-97). Kennedy O'Connor's father, Thomas, was a teammate of Alger's at UMass in 1993-94 and played with the program through 1998 before going on to a professional career with the Wheeling Nailers (1998-99) and Augusta Lynx (2000-01) of the ECHL and the Syracuse Crunch (1998-99) and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (1999-00) of the AHL. O'Connor's sister, Kayla, was a college hockey player as well, playing at Trinity from 2014 to 2018.
- Scott Morrow's uncle, Scott (1988-92), and dad, Steve Morrow (1988-91), both played college hockey at New Hampshire.
- Owen Murray's great uncle, Dallas Smith, played for the Boston Bruins from 1966 to 1977.
- Michael Cameron's brother, Matt, plays college hockey at Niagara and is entering his junior season with the Purple Eagles.
