AMHERST, Mass. - Alex Berry tallied a pair of first period goals and netminder Paul Dainton made 30 saves as the UMass hockey team defeated No. 15 Northeastern 3-1 on Saturday night in the Mullins Center. Berry put UMass up 2-0 after the first period and P.J. Fenton scored midway through the second. Dainton carried the shutout into the third period until Kyle Kraemer scored Northeastern's only goal of the game with just over eight minutes remaining. UMass heads to Maine for a pair of games next Saturday and Sunday.
The Minutemen improve to 11-11-6 overall and 6-10-5 in Hockey East, while Northeastern falls to 14-11-3 overall and 11-8-2 in the league.
UMass came out firing in the first period outshooting the Huskies 12-to-6 en route to the 2-0 early lead. Berry scored both goals - his first career multi-goal game. He notched his first goal at the 7:19 mark when Martin Nolet slid a long cross-ice pass to the opposite board where Berry collected it near center ice. He skated into the right face-off circle and sent a hard shot into the top right corner of the net.
Berry's next goal was on a power play at the 13:30 mark. David Leaderer sent the puck into the left corner and Berry and Chris Davis worked it into the scoring zone. With Davis behind the left post, he sent a pass into Berry that James Marcou redirected. Berry found the puck just outside the crease and sent it home.
In the second period, Justin Braun sent a clearing pass towards James Marcou at center ice. Marcou side-stepped a defenseman and drove the puck towards the right post. P.J. Fenton crashed towards the left post and after Northeastern goalie Brad Thiessen (30 saves) committed to Marcou, he slid the puck over to Fenton who scored his sixth goal of the season.
Halfway through a power play opportunity of their own, the Huskies were able to capitalize for their only goal of the game. Kyle Kraemer intercepted a clearing pass out of the Northeastern offensive zone and ripped a shot from the left face off circle where he beat Dainton in the top right corner.
UMass finished the game with a 33-to-31 shot advantage. Both teams committed seven penalites with UMass converting 2-of-4 power plays. Northeastern was just 1-for-6 on power play chances.