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University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
New Hampshire
#19/17 Massachusetts Hockey Hosts UNH For Sunday Afternoon Tilt
January 14, 2023 | Hockey
The Minutemen will square off the Wildcats tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
| Game 22 | #19/17 Massachusetts Minutemen (9-9-3, 3-7-1 HE) vs. New Hampshire Wildcats (6-16-1, 1-11-1 HE) |
| Date | Time | Sunday, January 15, 2023 | 3 p.m. |
| Location | Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center) |
| Series History | New Hampshire leads 92-29-12 |
| Live Statistics | StatBroadcast |
| Watch Live | ESPN+ | International Stream |
| 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 | New Hampshire |
| Team Records | Massachusetts | New Hampshire |
| @UMassHockey | @UMassAthletics | |
| UMass Hockey | UMass Athletics | |
| Tickets | Sunday |
LAST TIME OUT
- No. 19/17 Massachusetts hockey matched No. 7 Boston University's scoring in the second and third, but a four-goal first period propelled the Terriers past UMass, 6-2 on Wednesday night at Agganis Arena.
- BU opened the scoring at the 9:29 mark with Wilmer Skoog finding the back of the net off a feed from Devin Kaplan and Case McCarthy.
- The Terriers doubled their lead 12:56 into the frame as Luke Tuch redirected a Jay O'Brien Shot home with Dylan Peterson earning the secondary.
- Shortly after a penalty to Taylor Makar expired, Quinn Hudson made it 3-0 with Lake Hutson and Ryan Greene picking up the assists at 16:19.
- Nick Zabaneh then capped the scoring for the period for the Terriers, driving to the net on a partial break for the tally from Cade Webber and McCarthy 17:07 into the frame.
- The Minutemen took one of the goals back at the 6:29 mark of the second period when sophomore Scott Morrow collected the puck from senior Eric Faith and found graduate student Matt Koopman alone on the far wing with a cross-ice pass and Koopman finished the play into an open net.
- BU responded 12:12 into the second, regaining its four-goal cushion. Skoog sent a centering pass to Devin Kaplan for the tally at the doorstep. Kaplan added his second of the night at the 11:05 mark of the third from Skoog and Matt Brown.
- Freshman Michael Cameron wrapped up the scoring 14:45 into the third, taking the puck into the Terriers' zone off an outlet feed from sophomore Ryan Lautenbach and Morrow and lifting it over Drew Commesso to extend his point streak to four straight games.
- The Terriers out-shot UMass 47-18 on the night and were 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Minutemen were 0-for-2. Junior Henry Graham relieved Luke Pavicich (21 saves) in the second and stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced. Comesso totaled 17 stops for BU.
ROOKIES HEATING UP
- The freshman trio of Cole O'Hara, Michael Cameron and Tyson Dyck has been filling the scoresheet since returning from the holiday break. The three have combined for 15 points and seven of UMass' 14 goals over the past five games.
- O'Hara had a multi-goal game and a multi-point game at the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off and capped a four-game point streak with an assist against Boston College at Frozen Fenway.
- Cameron has points in each of his last four games, including a goal and an assist in UMass' 4-1 win over Lake Superior State. He also logged a power-play goal vs. Boston College for his fifth tally of the season and scored this past Wednesday at BU.
- Dyck dished two assists against Clarkson and then posted his first career multi-goal game in UMass' 3-0 win over Brown.
O'HARA HONORED FOLLOWING KWIK TRIP HOLIDAY FACE-OFF
- Freshman forward Cole O'Hara was selected as the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on January 2. It marked the first time O'Hara has earned the honor this season, and the third time a member of the Minutemen has been recognized.
- O'Hara logged four points (2g, 2a) at the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off December 28-29 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, helping UMass go 1-1-0 in the tournament.
- The Richmond Hill, Ontario native posted his first collegiate multi-goal game against Clarkson, which included his first power-play tally. O'Hara followed up with a pair of helpers in a 4-1 victory over Lake Superior State, both coming on the power play.
- O'Hara enters Sunday's matchup vs. New Hampshire tied for third on the Massachusetts squad in points with 14 on three goals and 11 assists over 19 games.
PAIR OF MINUTEMEN Take Bronze At WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP WITH TEAM USA
- University of Massachusetts freshman forward Kenny Connors and sophomore defenseman Ryan Ufko earned Bronze at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship after helping the U.S. National Junior Team to a 7-6 overtime win over Sweden in the Bronze Medal Game at the Scotiabank Centre on January 5.
- The duo joins a list of four previous medal winners from UMass in the tournament as goaltender Filip Lindberg was the most recent, taking Gold with Finland in 2020. Cale Makar won Gold with Canada in 2018, while that same tournament Director of Equipment Operations Josh Penn earned a Bronze medal on staff with Team USA. Stephen Werner was the first Minuteman to collect a medal at the World Junior Championship, winning gold with the United States in 2004.
- Ufko finished the tournament with 10 points (1g, 9a), capped with a multi-point effort in the Bronze medal game with a goal and an assist. In the 11-1 victory over Germany in the semifinal, Ufko dished out five primary assists for Team USA and was named the Player of the Game. Connors scored in the contest, as well. The five helpers tied the second-most assists in a single game by a USA Hockey player in World Juniors history.
- Connors netted his second tally of the tournament in USA's 6-2 loss to Canada in the semifinal round and was selected as the U.S.'s Player of the Game.
- With 18 games played this season, Connors currently ranks second for the Minutemen in points with 18 on seven goals (tied for team lead) and 11 assists and is +5. He has two power-play goals, one shorthanded goal and two game winners. The two-time Hockey East Rookie of the Week and October Rookie of the Month, is currently tied for second in Hockey East in freshman scoring.
- Ufko is tied for third on the squad in points (14). All four of Ufko's goals have come on the power play, a team best.
- Massachusetts hockey has been represented well at World Juniors during Greg Carvel's tenure at UMass with Minutemen earning roster spots at four of the past five IIHF World Junior Championships. Most recently, current sophomore Scott Morrow was named to the U.S. National Junior Team for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship prior to its postponement in December 2021. Zac Jones made the U.S. squad in 2020, goaltender Filip Lindberg earned a Gold medal at the 2019 tournament with Finland and Cale Makar won Gold with Canada at the 2018 World Junior Championship. Other past WJC participants from UMass include William Lagesson (2016, Sweden) and Stephen Werner (2004, USA). Werner was a Gold medal winner, as well. Director of Equipment Operations Josh Penn earned a Bronze medal on staff with Team USA in 2018.
CONNORS AND PAVICICH HONORED BY HOCKEY EAST FOLLOWING FRIENDSHIP FOUR
- Freshman forward Kenny Connors and sophomore netminder Luke Pavicich were selected as the Hockey East Rookie of the Week and Goaltender of the Week, respectively after helping the Minutemen go 1-0-1 at the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- Connors logged three points for the Minutemen in the tournament and netted both goals in the victory over the River Hawks, his second multi-goal game of his career. The Glen Mills, Pennsylvania native also registered an assist against Quinnipiac in the Friendship Four title game.
- Pavicich went 1-0-1 starting both games for the Minutemen at the Friendship Four, stopping 63 of 66 shots he faced for a .955 save percentage and a 1.44 goals against average over 125 minutes in net with two of the three goals he allowed coming on the power play. He logged 32 saves in the victory over the River Hawks and followed up with a 31 save performance against the Bobcats.
CONNORS TABBED HOCKEY EAST ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
- Freshman forward Kenny Connors was selected as the Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Month for October. Connors led UMass in scoring in a 5-1-1 month with nine points over seven games on three goals and six assists.
- Connors registered two power-play goals, one shorthanded tally and one game winner while going +3 in his first month of collegiate action. The Glen Mills, Pennsylvania native also blocked seven shots and won 44 faceoffs. He was the top rookie scorer in Hockey East for October.
- Connors contributed a goal and an assist, the first of his career, in a 4-2 win over No. 1 Denver on October 14. He scored the game winner in a 7-1 win over Union on October 21 and had two power-play goals in the contest and dished an assist for a three-point night. He logged a pair of assists in a 3-2 overtime win over Merrimack, including setting up the OT game winner on October 28.
AN ALL-AROUND TEAM EFFORT
- UMass' 14-goal weekend against Union was the squad's highest offensive output since the Minutemen also put up 14 in a weekend (nine goals and five goals) vs. Providence on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2008.
- In the Union series, 11 UMass players combined for 14 goals, 18 players combined for 40 points. The Minutemen went 7-for-11 (.636) on the power play, 8-for-8 (1.000) on the penalty kill and won 57.6% of the faceoffs (68-for-118).
WHERE THEY STACK UP
- Entering Sunday's matchup with New Hampshire, UMass leads the nation in power play percentage (32.2%), while ranking 16th in power-play goals (19) and 22nd in faceoff percentage (.515) and assists (107).
- Sophomore Luke Pavicich ranks 10thin the nation in save percentage at .924.
CONNORS & BRADY EARN HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY ACCOLADES
- University of Massachusetts hockey freshman Kenny Connors and junior Cole Brady were recognized by Hockey East after the Minutemen's sweep of Union on Oct. 21-22. Connors was selected as the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week and Brady was tabbed the Stop It Goaltending Goaltender of the Week.
- Connors had five points in the two-game sweep of the Dutchmen for the Minutemen with two goals and three assists, all coming on the power play and was +2 with seven shots and three blocks. The Glen Mills, Pennsylvania native factored in all three UMass power-play goals in the Friday matchup, scoring two in the 7-1 victory, including the game winner and dishing an assist. He followed up with his second multi-point game of the weekend, dishing two assists on the power play in Saturday's 7-0 win.
- Brady picked up his first shutout as a Minuteman in his UMass debut, stopping all 32 shots he faced in the 7-0 win over Union on Oct. 22. The Pickering, Ontario native had nine saves that came on the power play as the Minutemen held Union to a 0-for-6 night with the man advantage.
PAVICICH & MORROW HONORED BY HOCKEY EAST
- Sophomores Luke Pavicich and Scott Morrow both earned weekly awards on Oct. 17 following the Minutemen's weekend sweep of No. 1 Denver. Pavicich was tabbed the Hockey East Player of the Week and Morrow received Defender of the Week recognition.
- Pavicich picked up both victories in net for UMass, stopping 75 of 77 shots against the top-ranked Pioneers. The Clarence Center, New York, native had 45 saves in Friday's 4-2 win with both goals allowed coming in shorthanded situations. He followed up with a 30-save shutout, his first of his career, as UMass completed the weekend sweep of Denver with a 3-0 victory. On the week, Pavicich registered a 1.00 goals against average and a .974 save percentage over 119:53 in net.
- Morrow scored in both games of a weekend sweep of Denver including a shorthanded goal while killing a five-minute major in game one. He also dished an assist in that contest for a multi-point night. The Darien, Connecticut native followed up by scoring the game winner in Saturday's 3-0 shutout, UMass' first-ever shutout of a No. 1-ranked team. Morrow finished with three points on the weekend (2g, 1a), took seven shots and was +3.
PACKING 'EM IN
- Massachusetts drew a combined 13,612 fans over its two home games against Denver on Oct. 14-15, marking the largest combined attendance for a weekend series against a non-conference opponent in program history, surpassing the total of 12,358 who came through the turnstiles at the Mullins Center to see the Minutemen face Michigan State on Oct. 18-19 in 2013.
- The only two weekend attendance marks to surpass the Denver weekend total were March 9-10, 2007 when 15,181 strong were in the building to see UMass face Maine in the Hockey East Tournament and 14,439 one week earlier as the Minutemen closed out the regular season against the Black Bears in front of 14,439 on March 2-3, 2007.
DOWN GOES NO. 1
- UMass' two wins over then-No. 1 Denver on October 14-15 marked the Minutemen's seventh and eighth-ever wins in program history over a No. 1 ranked team with the Saturday 3-0 victory being the first shutout of a No. 1 ranked foe. In program history. The last time Massachusetts topped a No. 1 ranked team prior to this season came at No. 1/2 Boston College, 3-2 in overtime on February 26, 2021.
- UMass' first-ever win over a non-league foe ranked No. 1 was a 6-3 victory at Ohio State on October 19, 2019, in Columbus. The Minutemen's other four wins against No. 1 teams were: 2/10/12 at Boston University (3-2), 11/5/11 vs. Boston College (5-1), 11/14/08 vs. Boston University (5-1) and 1/28/95 vs. Maine (4-2).
BAY STATE, OL' BAY STATE
- UMass has five Massachusetts natives on the roster this season: Mikey Adamson (Quincy), Kennedy O'Connor (Springfield), Linden Alger (Centerville), Matt Koopman (Marblehead) and Jerry Harding (Canton), the most for a Minuteman squad since the team had eight Massachusetts natives in 2013-14.
SETTING THE SCENE
- 2022-23 marks 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.
- Among active Division I Men's head coaches, Carvel is second in wins for coaches with tenures of 12 years or less, trailing only Mike Hastings. Carvel, in his 12th year as a head coach, currently has 211 wins.
- As of the start of the 2022-23 campaign, UMass trailed 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, 13 Minutemen have signed NHL contracts, including nine individuals who came to UMass undrafted. Four 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.
- 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.
- UMass is one of 10 schools with 10 or more alumni on NHL rosters to start the 2022-23 season, with 10. Michigan (21), Boston College (20), Boston University (18), Minnesota (18), North Dakota (15), Wisconsin (15), Denver (12), Minnesota Duluth (12) and Notre Dame (10) make up the remainder of the group.
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 16 points over three-plus seasons with the Maroon & White on four goals and 12 assists including two game winners over 88 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 has 49 career points over 101 games on 25 goals and 24 assists, with seven power-play goals, four game winners and is +13. 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 74 games over three seasons after transferring from Providence following his freshman year. He has tallied four goals and six assists for 10 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).
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 five 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 is a junior for the Minutemen this season. 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 has junior eligibility in 2022-23. 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 Nodler, a 2019 fifth round (150th overall) draft pick of the Calgary Flames, joins the Minutemen after playing three seasons at Michigan State and is a senior for 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 as a junior, 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 and put up 25 points (13g, 12a) as a senior. 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 logged 47 points in 41 games that season, including seven power-play goals.
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
- UMass have gone 73-21-6 at the Mullins Center over the past three-plus seasons (2018-present) for a .760 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
- The Minutemen have been nationally ranked in 106 straight poll weeks since October 22, 2018 after previously not being ranked in either poll since February 2010, currently sitting at No. 19 in the USCHO.com poll and 17th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey poll.
- 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.
