AMHERST, Mass.- University of Massachusetts hockey pulled to within a goal of Sacred Heart in the third period but was unable to complete the comeback in the exhibition matchup between the squads at the Mullins Center on Saturday. The contest saw the Minutemen use all three goaltenders and had 11 newcomers make their first appearances in the Maroon & White.
"You need to play these games to learn a lot about your team," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "You get kind of coaxed into practicing against yourself for a month and you think you know what's going on but, until you play one of these games, you don't. We were not a good hockey team tonight at all. Sacred Heart is a solid team and they were ready to play and they're well coached. We managed the puck very very poorly, we added a lot of new players to our system, so I'm not overly shocked, but I am disappointed in the way we performed."
The Pioneers opened the scoring at the 7:04 mark in the first, taking advantage of a UMass turnover. Logan Britt found Braeden Tuck who rifled home a shot from the perimeter for the 1-0 lead.
Sacred Heart then made it 2-0 just 3:30 later. John Jaworski finished off an odd man rush from Tuck and Neil Shea at the 10:34 mark.
It took Massachusetts a mere 23 seconds to respond, though, closing the gap back to one. Linden Alger's outlet pass sprung Cal Kiefiuk and Reed Lebster on a 2-on-1, with Kiefiuk connecting with the cross-ice pass from his classmate at the net front 10:57 into the first.
In the second period, the Pioneers regained their two-goal cushion with Chikara Hanzawa cleaning up a Tim Clifton rebound after Henry Graham had made the initial stop for UMass at the 3:02 mark.
Massachusetts climbed back to within 3-2 at the 6:51 mark of the third as Kenny Connors popped home a pass from Tyson Dyck below the goal line with Elliott McDermott picking up the secondary helper.
UMass kept the pressure on down to the final whistle but was unable to come up with the equalizer. The Minutemen finished with a 29-22 shots on goal advantage and went 0-for-1 on the power play.
Junior Cole Brady made 10 saves in the third period, while Graham stopped seven in the second and Luke Pavicich had two saves in the first.
Massachusetts will be back in action next Saturday, October 8, at AIC in Springfield at 7 p.m.
