AMHERST, Mass. - A four-point night for junior Cole O'Hara helped University of Massachusetts hockey to a 5-2 win over Merrimack at the Mullins Center on Saturday. With the victory, the Minutemen move to 11-10-2 overall, 4-7-2 in conference play, while the Warriors fall to 9-12-1, 5-7-1 in Hockey East.
"I thought it was a great bounce back," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "I thought we played well and we deserved to win last night, but we got out-goalied. But tonight, I think, was pretty dominant. The start was outstanding. We talked a lot about getting to the net and scoring on the power play, and we scored on the power play and did a good job around the net. Jackson Irving, once again, comes in and gives us a really good game when we need him to, so a lot of positives tonight.
O'Hara opened the scoring at the 13:43 mark of the first period, firing home a wrister from the right faceoff circle that trickled through goaltender Max Lundgren off a feed from sophomore Jack Musa and junior Lucas Olvestad.
UMass doubled its lead 15:06 into the frame when Mercuri redirected in O'Hara's shot from the top of the crease for a power-play goal. Freshman Francesco Dell'Elce collected the secondary assist.
At the 8:11 mark of the second period, O'Hara picked up his second of the night, picking up a pass from Kenny Connors and Dans Locmelis below the goal line and backhanding it in under the pad of Lundgren for another power-play tally.
O'Hara completed his hat trick, scoring once again with the man advantage, 8:28 into the third period as he picked a corner over Lundgren's shoulder after collecting the puck from Musa and Dell'Elce.
Merrimack spoiled the shutout bid with a Tyler Young one-timer off an offensive zone faceoff win by Ethan Bono at 11:04. Young scored again from Nick Pierre and Seamus Powell with the extra attacker on at 17:32.
Junior Michael Cameron capped the scoring with an empty net goal 19:49 into the third from Owen Murray and Olvestad.
UMass finished the contest with a 30-28 shot advantage, while going 3-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Irving made 26 saves for the Minutemen and Lundgren turned aside 25 shots in net for the Warriors.
UMass will break from Hockey East action next weekend when the squad hosts a series against Alaska, beginning with a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday, January 24 at 7 p.m.
