SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - A three-goal first period helped lift No. 17 Massachusetts hockey to a 4-3 win against AIC at MassMutual center on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Minutemen improve to 4-3-1 on the year, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 1-5-1.
"It was the usual game against AIC, they play us really well," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "They're very well coached. Our game was up and down. There were times where we did great things and I thought we could have scored a bunch of goals in the third period and pulled away. But we made a lot of mistakes too that allowed them back into the game. That game's on us. If we play a full 60 minutes, I think we pull away easily, but we had some mishaps and allowed them to get back in the game. I thought Michael Hrabal was really strong enough for us, which is a nice sign."
Jack Musa opened the scoring 11 minutes into the first period after sophomore Dans Locmelis won an offensive zone faceoff and junior Cole O'Hara centered the puck for Musa for the finish alone at the top of the crease.
Musa then pushed the margin to 2-0, picking off an AIC pass and skating in behind the defense for a breakaway that he tucked in around the left pad of netminder Chase Clark at 13:08.
UMass capped the first period scoring with a 3-on-0, started by freshman Francesco Dell'Elce creating a turnover in the defensive zone and feeding senior Ryan Lautenbach for the tally from the slot at 18:53.
AIC took one of the goals back 3:40 into the second period with Tyler Procious converting on the power play at the net front from John Lundy and Josh Barnes.
The Minutemen answered with a power-play goal of their own at the 5:45 mark, with sophomore Dans Locmelis tipping home a feed from Kenny Connors and Aydar Suniev at the points.
The Yellow Jackets crept closer with Timofei Khokhlachev taking advantage of a UMass turnover below the goal line, hammering home a one-timer from Danny Weight and Lauri Sertti 4:25 into the third.
AIC later made it a one-goal game at the 12-minute mark of the third as Evan Stella's shot from the point found its way through traffic with Alfred Lindberg and Lundy collecting the assists.
UMass held off the Yellow Jackets late charge as Michael Hrabal finished with 44 saves for the Minutemen, a career high for the sophomore. AIC ended the contest with a 47-34 advantage in shots and went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Minutemen were 1-for-4.
UMass will return to action on Friday, November 8, opening a two-game Hockey East series at Vermont. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m.
