University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
0-2-1
RIT
1-1-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT 1 | OT 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RIT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Dell’Elce’s Last-Second Goal Earns Tie For #18/17 Massachusetts Hockey Against RIT, 2-2
October 09, 2026 | Hockey
AMHERST, Mass. – Junior assistant captain Francesco Dell'Elce scored an extra attacker goal with 0.5 seconds left in regulation to help No. 18/17 Massachusetts hockey earn a 2-2 tie against RIT at the Mullins Center on Friday night. UMass is now 0-2-1 on the season while the Tigers are 1-1-1.
Felt good in the first period, said head coach Greg Carvel. It's too bad we couldn't score early, maybe we could have carried some momentum, scored a few goals, but we had 50 shots on net to score the two goals. So, we're doing some things right, but we're still lacking integrity in our game. The two goals that they scored were off direct turnovers by us. The chances that they get were high end chances, not a ton, but they're high-end chances. And I think it's on us. I look at some guys like Larry Keenan trying to do too much on the ice, and I think it's working against us. The younger guys are still learning to play at this level. It's a lot. There's a lot of room for improvement, but you know it's a huge goal there to score, give this group some energy, and hopefully tomorrow night find our first win.
The Minutemen opened the scoring just as a power play expired 6:30 into the first period. Freshman Samu Alalauri won the puck along the half wall and sent it up to Dell'Elce at the point. Dell'Elce found sophomore Jack Galanek at the net front for the backhander tally.
Before the first intermission, RIT managed to tie the score at 1-1. Camden Bajzer picked up the puck in the Tigers' defensive end and skated down the ice on a 2-on-1, electing to shoot instead of pass, he fired a wrister past netminder Ethan Eskit at 17:07.
RIT then took the lead midway through the second. Kevin Scott picked off a pass in the neutral zone and advanced the puck to Lucas Romeo who found himself in behind the UMass defense for the score 9:31 into the frame.
The Minutemen pressured hard as the clock wound down in the third, with Alalauri ringing a shot of the post with under four minutes remaining in regulation. Then, with the extra attacker on, senior Jack Musa and sophomore Justin Kerr won a puck battle down low and fed Dell'Elce at the blueline. Dell'Elce's shot through traffic crossed the goal line with 0.5 seconds remaining on the clock and was confirmed as a good goal following video review.
The teams played a scoreless OT period before the Tigers took the exhibition shootout, 2-1 in five rounds.
UMass ended the night with a 50-22 edge in shots on goal and was 0-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Eskit made 20 saves for the Minutemen and his counterpart Jakub Krbecek turned aside 48 for RIT.
The teams will return to action tomorrow, Oct. 10, with game two of the weekend set for 7:30 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
