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University of Massachusets Athletics
Saturday, October 4
Amherst, Mass.
7:30 p.m.
University of Massachusetts
1-0-0
5
vs
3
Northern Michigan
0-1-0
1
2
3
F
Northern Mich.
2
0
1
3
Massachusetts
1
1
3
5
#15 Massachusetts Hockey Rallies For Season-Opening 5-3 Win Over Northern Michigan
October 04, 2025 | Hockey
AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts hockey battled back from a third period deficit to secure a 5-3 win over Northern Michigan at the Mullins Center on Saturday night. The Minutemen poured on 70 shots on goal, the most in a regulation game in the NCAA's modern history.
"I'm very pleased with our game tonight," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "It felt like a lopsided game but give the Northern Michigan credit. We came out first period, flying. They kind of balanced the game back out, took the lead, but I'm very, very happy for the first game, we saw a lot of good things. At the same time, though, our young players made some mistakes in the game that they have to make for us to correct. But up and down the lineup, I thought all four lines played well. The defense played well. Give them credit. We played a hell of a game, and Northern Michigan made us fight for fight for the win. So I'll give them a lot of credit tonight."
At the 3:28 mark of the opening period, sophomores Mikey DeAngelo and Daniel Jencko won a puck battle along the half wall and squirted the puck out to junior Jack Musa at the hashmarks for a point-blank one-timer that put the Minutemen on the board.
Northern Michigan managed to tie things up 7:08 into the frame. Aidyn Hutchinson started the rush out of the UMass send and Tobias Pitka found a trailing Joe Shiller alone in the slot for the strike.
The Wildcats then took the lead with less than three minutes to play in the first, converting on their first power play of the contest. Grayden Silpec dished the puck off to Jakub Altrichter who circled the zone and found Caiden Gault for a one-timer from the top of the faceoff circle.
Freshman Lukas Klecka pulled the Minutemen level with Northern Michigan midway through the second with his first collegiate goal. Skating in alone on netminder William Gramme after receiving the puck from junior Bo Cosman and senior Owen Murray at 12:57.
Early in the third period, the Wildcats pulled back in front, 3-2. Medrick Bolduc stuffed in a loose puck at the top of the crease with Altrichter earning his second assist of the night at 3:52.
Just 66 seconds later, UMass tied the score once again. Freshman Vaclav Nestrasil went to the back post to tip home a feed from classmate Jack Galanek for his first collegiate goal with Murray picking up the secondary.
Sophomore Francesco Dell'Elce potted the eventual game winner 13:42 into the second period, sending a shot through traffic from the top of the zone after collecting the puck from sophomore Charlie Lieberman and Musa.
Musa then capped off a three-point (2g, 1a) night with an empty net goal at 19:50. Murray notched his third helper of the contest on the final tally, setting a new career single-game high in assists and points.
UMass out-shot Northern Michigan 70-26 and went 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Wildcats were 1-for-2. Goaltender Michael Hrabal stopped 23 shots for the Minutemen and Gramme totaled 65 saves for the Wildcats.
The teams will be back in action tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 5, for a 4 p.m. matchup at the Mullins Center.
"I'm very pleased with our game tonight," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "It felt like a lopsided game but give the Northern Michigan credit. We came out first period, flying. They kind of balanced the game back out, took the lead, but I'm very, very happy for the first game, we saw a lot of good things. At the same time, though, our young players made some mistakes in the game that they have to make for us to correct. But up and down the lineup, I thought all four lines played well. The defense played well. Give them credit. We played a hell of a game, and Northern Michigan made us fight for fight for the win. So I'll give them a lot of credit tonight."
At the 3:28 mark of the opening period, sophomores Mikey DeAngelo and Daniel Jencko won a puck battle along the half wall and squirted the puck out to junior Jack Musa at the hashmarks for a point-blank one-timer that put the Minutemen on the board.
Northern Michigan managed to tie things up 7:08 into the frame. Aidyn Hutchinson started the rush out of the UMass send and Tobias Pitka found a trailing Joe Shiller alone in the slot for the strike.
The Wildcats then took the lead with less than three minutes to play in the first, converting on their first power play of the contest. Grayden Silpec dished the puck off to Jakub Altrichter who circled the zone and found Caiden Gault for a one-timer from the top of the faceoff circle.
Freshman Lukas Klecka pulled the Minutemen level with Northern Michigan midway through the second with his first collegiate goal. Skating in alone on netminder William Gramme after receiving the puck from junior Bo Cosman and senior Owen Murray at 12:57.
Early in the third period, the Wildcats pulled back in front, 3-2. Medrick Bolduc stuffed in a loose puck at the top of the crease with Altrichter earning his second assist of the night at 3:52.
Just 66 seconds later, UMass tied the score once again. Freshman Vaclav Nestrasil went to the back post to tip home a feed from classmate Jack Galanek for his first collegiate goal with Murray picking up the secondary.
Sophomore Francesco Dell'Elce potted the eventual game winner 13:42 into the second period, sending a shot through traffic from the top of the zone after collecting the puck from sophomore Charlie Lieberman and Musa.
Musa then capped off a three-point (2g, 1a) night with an empty net goal at 19:50. Murray notched his third helper of the contest on the final tally, setting a new career single-game high in assists and points.
UMass out-shot Northern Michigan 70-26 and went 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Wildcats were 1-for-2. Goaltender Michael Hrabal stopped 23 shots for the Minutemen and Gramme totaled 65 saves for the Wildcats.
The teams will be back in action tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 5, for a 4 p.m. matchup at the Mullins Center.
Team Stats
NMU
UMA
Shots
26
70
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
1
Penalties
5
2
Penalty Mins
18
4
Faceoffs Won
39
30
Game Leaders
+/-
2
Goals
0
Sh
6
A
3
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
8
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
Players Mentioned
F
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