Massachusetts Heads To Boston College For Hockey East Tournament First Round Matchup

Game 35	No. 9 Seed Massachusetts Minutemen (13-16-5, 7-14-3 HE) at No. 8 Seed Boston College (13-15-6, 8-11-5 HE)
Date \| Time	Wednesday, March 8, 2023 \| 7:00 p.m.
Location	Chestnut Hill, Mass. (Conte Forum - Kelley Rink)
Series History	Boston College leads 73-17-4
Live Statistics	Sidearm
Watch Live	ESPN+ \| NESN+ 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 \| Boston College
Team Records	Massachusetts \| Boston College
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	Wednesday

LAST TIME OUT
- University of Massachusetts hockey completed its first weekend sweep at Alfond Arena since 2010 by defeating Maine 4-3 on Saturday night in the teams' regular season finale after posting a 5-2 victory over the Black Bears in the Friday night matchup, scoring four times in the third period.
- 51 seconds into Friday's contest, Scott Morrow crashed the net to put back a Reed Lebster rebound with Cal Kiefiuk collecting the secondary helper on the sophomore's eighth of the season.
- The Black Bears ultimately tied the score at one at the 16:26 mark of the opening frame. Thomas Freel collected the puck from Donavan Villeneuve-Houle and found Lynden Breen at the far post who sent a backhander into an open net.
- With the teams still deadlocked at 1-1 following a scoreless second, Taylor Makar put UMass back on top, taking an outlet feed from sophomore Lucas Mercuri and Morrow and driving to the Maine net to pot his eighth of the season 2:27 into the third.
- Murray gave the Minutemen some breathing room with his first collegiate goal at the 6:04 mark, firing home a wrister on the rush from sophomores Ryan Lautenbach and Ryan Ufko.
- Makar added another 10:30 into the frame, picking up a pass from Murray and Lautenbach, and stickhandling through a Maine defender to send the puck home from the slot.
- The Black Bears took one back at the 14:42 mark with Breen netting his second of the night from Freel and Luke Atonacci to cut the deficit to 4-2.
- Senior Cal Kiefiuk then capped the scoring with an empty net goal from classmate Eric Faith at 17:50.
- Maine finished the contest with a 31-21 shot advantage and went 0-for-1 with the lone power play of the evening.
- Cole Brady made 29 saves in net for UMass and Victor Ostman had 16 stops for the Black Bears.
- On Saturday Massachusetts opened the scoring 6:13 into the first period as Lebster centered the puck from behind the Maine net for Kiefiuk to swat home from the top of the crease. The duo connected again at the 13:46 mark with Kiefiuk burying a wrister from the top of the left faceoff circle off a feed from Lebster.
- UMass increased its lead to 3-0, 4:35 into the second period with Morrow picking a corner on the power play with Lebster and Ufko collecting the assists.
- The Black Bears responded with a power-play goal of their own at the 12:29 mark with Nolan Renwick finishing off a pass from Ben Poisson and Jakub Sirota from the high slot.
- Maine closed the gap to one 4:04 into the third with Poisson putting back a rebound from David Breazeale and Freel, bringing the score to 3-2.
- Sophomore Lucas Mercuri briefly gave UMass back a two-goal cushion, finishing at the net front from junior Aaron Bohlinger and Morrow at 8:35, but Sirota responded for the Black Bears with his tally from Breen and Villenueve-Houle just 21 seconds later.
- Maine kept the pressure on in the final 10 minutes of the third, but the Minutemen defense held firm despite being out-shot 38-14 on the night.
- Netminder Cole Brady finished with 35 saves. Both teams were 1-for-3 on the power play in the contest.
- Lebster led UMass with a career single-game best three assists. Kiefiuk posted his second multi-goal game of his career.

MORROW EARNS HOCKEY EAST DEFENDER OF THE WEEK NOD
- Sophomore defenseman Scott Morrow was selected as the Hockey East Army ROTC Defender of the Week this past Monday, marking the second time this season he has earned the honor and the ninth time a member of the Minutemen has received one of the league's weekly awards.
- The Darien, Connecticut native registered a goal and an assist in back-to-back nights for four points in a weekend sweep of Maine last weekend.
- In Friday's 5-2 win, he scored the opening goal and picked up a secondary helper, while blocking two shots.
- On Saturday, Morrow netted a power-play goal to put the Minutemen in front, 3-0 in the second period and later assisted the eventual game winner in the 4-3 victory, while registering a pair of blocks for a second straight night.
- Morrow's four-point weekend brings his season total to 31 as he joins UMass Hall of Famer Thomas Poeck as the only Minutemen blueliners in program history to post multiple seasons with 30+ points.

HATS OFF TO UFKO
- On Saturday, February 11, Ryan Ufko became the first UMass defenseman to score a hat trick since Conor Allen had three goals vs. Holy Cross on November 11, 2011, and the fifth defenseman to post a hat trick in the Minutemen's Division I era.
- The Smithtown, New York native scored three in UMass' 4-4 tie vs. Vermont and scored the clinching shootout goal in that contest. Ufko was +5 on the weekend and attempted eight shots over the two games vs. the Catamounts, earning a Hockey East Player of the Week nod.
- It was the first hat trick by any Minuteman since Carson Gicewicz scored three times in UMass' NCAA Regional Championship matchup vs. Bemidji State on March 27, 2021.

MORROW & UFKO NAMED SEMIFINALISTS FOR WALTER BROWN AWARD
- Sophomore defensemen Scott Morrow and Ryan Ufko are among 25 semifinalists for the 71st Walter Brown Award, the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced recently.
- The slate of nominees for the award, which is presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England, includes 16 forwards, eight defensemen and one goaltender.
- Bobby Trivigno '22 was UMass' first-ever Walter Brown Award recipient when he earned the honor in 2021 as a junior. He then repeated as the Walter Brown winner in 2022.
- Morrow currently leads the Minutemen scoring through 34 games with 31 points on nine goals and 22 assists. The Darien, Connecticut native has two game winners, one shorthanded goal and four power-play goals.
- Ufko has seen action in 31 games and has 23 points on seven goals and 16 assists, good for third on the squad in points.

MINUTEMEN CONTINUE TRADITION OF SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM
- During the 2022 Fall semester, UMass hockey posted a team grade point average of 3.641, contributing to the squads' cumulative GPA of 3.623.
- All 28 Minutemen posted GPAs of 3.0 or higher last semester with 22 individuals receiving a 3.5 or higher and four logging perfect 4.0 GPAs.

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 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 Wednesday's contest sixth on the Massachusetts squad in points with 17 on four goals and 13 assists over 31 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 joined 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.
- 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).

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 Wednesday's matchup with Boston College, UMass ranks fifht in the nation in power play percentage (26.4%), first in Hockey East. The Minutemen are 19th nationally in penalty kill percentage (81.7%) after recently putting together a stretch of 20 consecutive successful penalty kills.
- Scott Morrow ranks sixth in the nation in points by defensemen with 31, second in Hockey East, and ranks tied for eighth in goals, second in Hockey East.

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 215 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 18 points over three-plus seasons with the Maroon & White on four goals and 14 assists including two game winners over 99 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 has equaled that mark this season. He is a native of Carp, Ontario.
- Lebster has 57 career points over 111 games on 28 goals and 29 assists, with nine power-play goals, four game winners and is +10 The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native saw action in 36 of 37 contests last season and registered 18 points on nine goals and nine assists to finish sixth in the squad in points and fifth in goals. He has a career high 22 points this season on eight goals and 14 assists.
- Harding, a Canton, Massachusetts native, has played in 87 games over three seasons after transferring from Providence following his freshman year. He has tallied four goals and nine assists for 13 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 74-24-8 at the Mullins Center over the past three-plus seasons (2018-present) for a .736 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.

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 in his junior season with the Purple Eagles.

Scoreboard

Massachusetts Heads To Boston College For Hockey East Tournament First Round Matchup

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Players Mentioned

Mikey Adamson

Linden Alger

Aaron Bohlinger

Cole Brady

Michael Cameron

Kenny Connors

Anthony Del Gaizo

Marc Del Gaizo

Tyson Dyck

Noah Ellis

Eric Faith

Jerry Harding

Cal Kiefiuk

Matt Koopman

Ryan Lautenbach

Reed Lebster

John Leonard

Filip Lindberg

Josh Lopina

Cale Makar

Taylor Makar

Elliott McDermott

Lucas Mercuri

Scott Morrow

Owen Murray

Josh Nodler

Kennedy O'Connor

Cole O'Hara

Luke Pavicich

Jacob Pritchard

Bobby Trivigno

Ryan Ufko

Garrett Wait

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics