Junior forward John Leonard had a goal and three assists for the Minutemen
Leonard's Four Points Lead Massachusetts Past UConn, 4-3
Junior forward John Leonard had a goal and three assists for the Minutemen

AMHERST, Mass. - No. 8/9 University of Massachusetts hockey gutted out a 4-3 win over UConn on Saturday night at the Mullins Center, celebrating Senior Night by clinching home ice for the quarterfinal round of the upcoming Hockey East Tournament. The victory moves the Minutemen to 20-11-2 overall and 13-8-3 in Hockey East action, matching the third-highest wins total in program history, while the loss leaves the Huskies at 15-14-4, 12-9-2 in league action.

"I don't think people in the stands would understand how big of a character win that was," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "We're a really depleted team. That was a character win. UConn is one of the hottest teams in the country. They out-played us last night. We needed these two points and final score I don't think is real indicative of the game, we thought we played extremely well. They're a good offensive team, opportunistic. It was good to see the power play be effective, we won the special teams battle and we got some solid goaltending tonight, so it all added up enough to get us a big two points."

Just 3:28 into the contest, sophomore Marc Del Gaizo opened the scoring to give UMass a 1-0 lead. Senior Niko Hildenbrand dug the puck out of the corner and junior John Leonard found Del Gaizo streaking down the slot for to pick up his third tally of the season.

Before the close of the frame, however, UConn managed to tie the score at 1-1. Jonny Evans banged home a rebound along the ice from Wyatt Newpower and Ruslan Iskhakov at 12:42.

Del Gaizo put UMass back on top, 2-1, midway through the second, converting on the power play from the top of the faceoff circle after receiving the puck from freshman Zac Jones and Leonard along the half wall.

Jake Flynn knotted things up for UConn 8:48 into the third, dancing his way into the slot and firing a wrister through traffic with Alexander Payusov and Benjamin Freeman collecting the assists.

Sophomore Bobby Trivigno put the Minutemen in front once more, 3-2 at 12:58, cleaning up a rebound from Del Gaizo and Leonard for his ninth of the season.

Leonard then gave UMass brief two-goal cushion with his 27th of the year, tucking in a rebound from Hildenbrand and Jones at the post at 16:41. The tally set a new UMass single-season record for goals in a season by an individual at the Division I level.

The Huskies answered right back with Carter Turnbull flinging a puck past Matt Murray from Newpower and Freeman just 13 seconds later, but the Minutemen held firm at 4-3 over the final 3:06 of the contest.

UMass finished the evening with a 38-34 shot advantage and went 1-for-2 on the power play, while UConn was 0-for-5.

Murray totaled 31 saves for the Minutemen and his counterpart, Tomas Vomacka stopped 34 for the Huskies.

Four UMass players posted multi-point nights in the win, led by Leonard's second four-point effort of his career with a goal and three assists. Del Gaizo logged his first multi-goal game of his career with two on the evening to go along with an assist for a three-point performance. Hildenbrand and Jones both dished two helpers apiece, as well.

The Minutemen will close out the regular season at home next Thursday, March 5, hosting Vermont for a 7 p.m. matchup.

Game Summary

Saturday, February 29, 2020

3
4
Game statistics
34 Shots 38
0 / 5 Power Plays 1 / 2
4 / 8 PIM 6 / 12
15-14-4 Records 20-11-2
GOAL SCORERS
UConn Massachusetts
Marc Del Gaizo (3)
1st/3:28
Jonny Evans (9)
1st/16:42
Marc Del Gaizo (4)
2nd/10:10 PP
Jake Flynn (2)
3rd/8:48
Bobby Trivigno (9)
3rd/12:58
John Leonard (27)
3rd/16:41  GW
Carter Turnbull (12)
3rd/16:54
GOALTENDERS
UConn Massachusetts
Tomáš Vomáčka
59:17, 34 Saves, 4 GA
(L, 15-14-3)

Empty Net
0:43, 0 GA
Matt Murray
60:00, 31 Saves, 3 GA
(W, 12-6-0)