AMHERST, Mass.- University of Massachusetts hockey earned its first win of the season, 5-3 over AIC in its home opener on Saturday at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen begin the year 1-0-0, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 0-1-0.
"I'm glad we got the season going," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "We needed to play games to kind of let the team figure out where we need to advance. I really liked our compete at times. The second period, I thought we were starting to take the game over, and when it got to 4-1, it should have been in our hands, but, you know, some mistakes, penalties, some young new players to our team. To me what I'll take away is that we steadied the ship and found a way to close it out and I'm not so sure that was happening for us last year. To me there were a lot of positives in the game, a few negatives, but definitely more positives."
UMass opened the scoring midway through the first period. Senior Elliot McDermott sent a saucer pass to junior Taylor Makar, who found classmate Ryan Lautenbach in front of a wide-open AIC net. The goal, which came 9:44 into the period, marked Lautenbach's first of the season and eighth of his career.
Graduate transfer Samuli Niinisaari then put the Minutemen up by two just before the intermission, jamming a loose puck past the pads of Yellow Jackets' netminder, Nils Wallstrom with 1:06 remaining. Junior Scott Morrow and freshman Bo Cosman earned assists on the play, Cosman's first collegiate point.
The Yellow Jackets halved their deficit 5:06 into the second when Jordan Biro sent a cross-ice pass to Brian Kramer, who finished with a wrister from the face off circle.
UMass regained its two-goal cushion moments later, converting on its second power play of the night at the 8:26 mark. Freshman Jack Musa earned his first collegiate tally, whipping the puck home from point-blank range off a no-look pass from junior Lucas Mercuri after the initial shot came from junior Ryan Ufko.
Just 32 seconds into the third period, sophomore Michael Cameron went coast-to-coast for an unassisted tally that pushed the Minutemen lead to 4-1.AIC responded with the next two goals to pull back within striking distance. At the 12:16 mark, Julius Janhonan found Brett Callahan streaking towards the back post for a redirection past UMass goaltender Cole Brady.
Seconds after a successful penalty kill by the Minutemen, Logan Jenuwine hammered home a one-timer from Kramer and Josh Barnes that closed the gap to 4-3 for AIC with 3:55 remaining in the third.
Ufko quieted the Yellow Jackets' potential rally, however, with an empty net goal at 18:37 to complete the scoring.
AIC out-shot UMass, 39-25 in the contest, while the Minutemen. Were a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play.
Brady finished the night with 36 stops for UMass, while Wallstrom turned aside 20 for the Yellow Jackets.
The Minutemen next head to Hanover, New Hampshire for an exhibition game at Dartmouth on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m.
