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University of Massachusets Athletics
Wednesday, December 7
Amherst, Mass.
7:00 p.m.
University of Massachusetts
7-6-3, 3-6-1
1
vs
2
#11/10 Merrimack
12-4-0, 8-2-0
1
2
3
F
Merrimack
1
1
0
2
Massachusetts
1
0
0
1
#11/10 Merrimack Nips #13/12 Massachusetts Hockey, 2-1
December 07, 2022 | Hockey
Makar netted the lone goal of the night for the Minutemen, extending his scoring streak to three straight.
AMHERST, Mass. – No. 13/12 Massachusetts hockey opened the scoring just 1:28 into the contest, but Merrimack's late goal in the second period helped carry the Warriors past the Minutemen, 2-1 on Wednesday night at the Mullins Center. The setback leaves UMass at 7-6-3 overall, 3-6-1 in Hockey East, while Merrimack moves to 12-4-0, 8-2-0 in league action.
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"It was a frustrating game," said Massachusetts head coach Greg Carvel. "Dealt with, again, taking too many penalties. There were spurts where I really liked the way we were playing, saw some of our identity. It was frustrating the way they scored the game-winning goal with a second left in the period is unacceptable. We were missing a couple kids with flu tonight and then we lost (Reed) Lebster. It's an uneven game to coach just because I had to juggle lines all night long, but I don't think we're that far off from being a good team. We can't seem to put together 60 minutes. A lot of it right now is penalties, but I see things. We've got to keep pushing forward. It's unfortunate we don't play again now for a while. It was a tough one tonight. We needed that one tonight."
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Sophomore Taylor Makar put the Minutemen on the board at the 1:28 mark of the first period, swatting home a feed from freshman Kenny Connors and Lebster below the goal line at the left post.
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The Warriors responded with the equalizer 10:10 into the stanza. Matt Copponi redirected in an Ivan Zivlak shot from the right point past netminder Luke Pavicich from the slot with Alex Jefferies collecting the secondary helper.
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UMass killed off four penalties in the second period, including a five-minute major to Lucas Mercuri, but Merrimack broke through for the go-ahead goal at even strength just before the intermission. Ottoville Leppanen deflected in a feed from Copponi and Zach Bookman at the doorstep to put the Warriors on top at the 19:58 mark.
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The Minutemen out-shot the Warriors in the third and had two power play chances, but were unable to pull level with Merrimack. UMass finished 0-for-3 with the man advantage and the Warriors were 0-for-4. Merrimack edged the Minutemen in shots overall on the evening, 39-36.
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Pavicich totaled 37 saves in net for Massachusetts, while his counterpart Hugo Ollas stopped 35 shots.
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The Minutemen will break for final exams and the holidays, returning to action on December 28 when the squad will face Clarkson in the opening round of the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 5 p.m.
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"It was a frustrating game," said Massachusetts head coach Greg Carvel. "Dealt with, again, taking too many penalties. There were spurts where I really liked the way we were playing, saw some of our identity. It was frustrating the way they scored the game-winning goal with a second left in the period is unacceptable. We were missing a couple kids with flu tonight and then we lost (Reed) Lebster. It's an uneven game to coach just because I had to juggle lines all night long, but I don't think we're that far off from being a good team. We can't seem to put together 60 minutes. A lot of it right now is penalties, but I see things. We've got to keep pushing forward. It's unfortunate we don't play again now for a while. It was a tough one tonight. We needed that one tonight."
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Sophomore Taylor Makar put the Minutemen on the board at the 1:28 mark of the first period, swatting home a feed from freshman Kenny Connors and Lebster below the goal line at the left post.
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The Warriors responded with the equalizer 10:10 into the stanza. Matt Copponi redirected in an Ivan Zivlak shot from the right point past netminder Luke Pavicich from the slot with Alex Jefferies collecting the secondary helper.
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UMass killed off four penalties in the second period, including a five-minute major to Lucas Mercuri, but Merrimack broke through for the go-ahead goal at even strength just before the intermission. Ottoville Leppanen deflected in a feed from Copponi and Zach Bookman at the doorstep to put the Warriors on top at the 19:58 mark.
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The Minutemen out-shot the Warriors in the third and had two power play chances, but were unable to pull level with Merrimack. UMass finished 0-for-3 with the man advantage and the Warriors were 0-for-4. Merrimack edged the Minutemen in shots overall on the evening, 39-36.
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Pavicich totaled 37 saves in net for Massachusetts, while his counterpart Hugo Ollas stopped 35 shots.
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The Minutemen will break for final exams and the holidays, returning to action on December 28 when the squad will face Clarkson in the opening round of the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 5 p.m.
Team Stats
MER
UMA
Shots
39
36
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
7
Penalty Mins
10
25
Faceoffs Won
17
32
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
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