University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Massachusetts
Huskies Host No. 8 UMass on Senior Night
2/27/2020 5:00:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
| TV | CW20 (Friday) NESNplus (Saturday) |
| RADIO | UConn Sports Network from Learfield IMG College (ESPN 97.9 FM; WILI 1400 AM / 95.3 FM) |
| VIDEO STREAM | CBS All-Access |
| AUDIO | TuneIn.com |
| LIVE STATS | UConnHuskies.com |
| @UConnMHOC #IceBus #BleedBlue | |
| GAME NOTES | UConn Notes UMass Notes |
Ice Chips
UConn will open up a Hockey East home-and-home series with No. 8/9 nationally ranked Massachusetts on Friday night from XL Center on "Senior Night". Friday night's game will be broadcast throughout Connecticut on CW20. Saturday's return game at UMass is slated for NESNplus.
The Huskies will honor their five graduating seniors before Friday night's game. Seniors Bryan Nelson, Justin Howell, Alexander Payusov, Wyatt Newpower and Benjamin Freeman will be recognized along with their parents prior to puck drop.
The Huskies are coming off a weekend sweep of Boston University and are now 7-1-0 over their last eight Hockey East games coming into the weekend. UConn came back to beat BU in overtime, 4-3, at home last Friday and stormed BU up in Boston, 6-1, on Saturday.
UConn enters the weekend tied for fourth place in the crowded Hockey East standings. The Huskies have 24 points, their best-ever point total since joining the conference in 2014-15, and are even with UMass Lowell. UConn is a point behind Maine in third, two points behind UMass in second and four points back of Boston College at the top.
Since joining the conference in 2014-15, UConn and UMass have face-off 12 times with the Minutemen holding a slim 6-5-1 edge.
In last season's regular season finale, UConn knocked off the then No. 2 ranked Minutemen, marking the highest ranked opponent the Huskies have ever beaten. They had previously knocked-off the No. 3 ranked team in the nation when they beat Boston College at home (1-0) in 2014 and a road win over then No. 3 ranked UMass Lowell (3-2) in 2016.
Senior Benjamin Freeman was named the Hockey East Player of the Week after a seven point weekend with a pair of goals and five assists in the sweep of BU. He has taken over the team-lead in scoring with career-best 26 points on the year on seven goals and 16 assists. Over the last five games, Freeman has 11 points (3g/8a).
Sophomore Carter Turnbull scored his 11th goal of the season, matching freshman Vladislav Firstov for the team lead in goals scored. Turnbull has 23 points on the season, and has had at least a point in eight of his last nine games. Over that stretch, he has five goals and seven assists.
The UConn lineup features six 20-point scorers with senior Alexander Payusov hitting the mark after his second career hat-trick in the win at BU. Payusov has 12 goals, seven coming over the last five games.
Freshman Vladislav Firstov who has 23 points on 11 goals and 12 assists was named the Pro-Ambitions Rookie of the Month for January after posting nine points over eight games including two game-winners.
Sophomores Jachym Kondelik (8g/13a) and Ruslan Iskhakov (9g/11a) round out the UConn 20-point scorers. There are 12 Huskies who have double digit points and nine different players have scored five or more goals.
Senior defenseman Wyatt Newpower is eighth among Hockey East blue-liners with a career-best 19 points (3g/16a). He leads the Huskies as a +23 on the season, ranking fifth nationally.
Last Season vs. UMass
November 30, 2018 - L, 7-4 at Mullins Center
UConn suffered a 7-4 loss at the hands of the No.3 nationally ranked Massachusetts Minutemen at the Mullins Center in the first of three season match-ups. UMass got two goals apiece from Mitchell Chaffee and Bobby Trivigno while goaltender Matt Murray made 29 saves. For the Huskies, Kale Howarth scored his first collegiate goal and added another for his first career multi-goal game. Wyatt Newpower scored his first of the season and senior Karl El-Mir (Montreal Quebec) scored to pick-up a point in his third straight game. The Huskies held a 2-1 lead after the first period but two UMass goals in the second put the Minutemen up 3-2 after two periods. UConn tied it at 3-3 just 34 seconds in to the third period but UMass responded with three-straight goals in a span of 2:09 to take control en route to the win.
February 21, 2019 - L, 3-0 at Mullins Center
The Huskies made the short trip up to No. 2 nationally ranked Massachusetts in late February, falling to the Minutemen 3-0. UConn was shutout for the fifth time on the season UConn freshman goaltender Tomas Vomacka stopped a then career-high 33 shots for the Huskies in the loss. The Minutemen scored a goal in each period and twice on the power play in the win. UMass goaltender Matt Murray made 21 saves to record his first shutout of the season and also set a new program record for wins.
March 8, 2019 - W, 4-3 at XL Center
UConn got a pair of goals from Benjamin Freeman on the way to posting the biggest upset in program history, knocking of the No. 2 nationally ranked Massachusetts Minutemen in last season's finale from the XL Center. Freeman matched his career-high with the two-goal night that included the game-winner early in the third period. The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to Freeman's first and a shorthanded goal from Brian Rigali. The Huskies made it 3-0 in the second period on a Ruslan Iskhakov goal. UMass clawed back into the game late in the second. The Minutemen got a power play goal from Bobby Trivigno and then cut the lead to 3-2 as Marc Del Gaizo scored with just .02 left on the clock in the second. The Minutemen tied the game on the opening shift of the third with Mitchell Chaffee scoring off a face-off but the Huskies got it right back with Freeman netting the game-winner just 36 seconds later. Vomacka finished with 33 saves to earn the win.
Last Time Out...
- For the first time in their Hockey East history, the Huskies posted a series sweep over Boston University, winning 4-3 in overtime at home and 6-1 on the road.
- On Friday at XL Center, the Huskies tied the game with 56 seconds left in the third period and then got the game-winning goal from senior Alexander Payusov just 19 seconds into overtime to beat BU 4-3.
- UConn senior Benjamin Freeman scored the game-tying goal at 19:04 with an extra skater on the ice to set up overtime and Payusov's heroics. The senior's overtime winner marks the second-straight season the Huskies beat BU at home with Payusov providing the game-winning goal.
- UConn built a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals by sophomores Carter Turnbull and Kale Howarth. BU stormed back in the second with three-straight coming from Case McCarthy, Jack DeBoer and Cam Crotty.
- On Saturday in Boston, Payusov recorded his second career hat trick to pace the Huskies to a 6-1 win over the Terriers. Payusov scored one in the second and twice in the third as the Huskies put four on the board in the final period to blow open a 2-1 game.
- Freeman finished with a career-high four points coming on a goal and three assists. Over the two-game series, Freeman finished with two goals and five assists.
- Turnbull matched his career-high with three assists in the win. Senior Justin Howell and junior Zac Robbins had the other Husky goals on the night.
SENIOR NIGHT...
- The Huskies honored their graduating seniors along with their parents prior to Friday night's game.
- Senior defenseman Bryan Nelson played for the Huskies during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons and rejoined the program this past January to help bring added depth to the roster.
- Senior forward Justin Howell has appeared in 72 games during his career in Storrs and has 11 career points on five goals and six assists.
- Senior alternate captain Alexander Payusov has played in 106 games during his four years at UConn and has produced 62 career points coming on 40 goals and 22 assists.
- Senior captain Wyatt Newpower has played in 111 career games and recorded 44 points on 11 goals and 33 assists. He has consistently been among the Hockey East leaders in blocked shots with 163 during his four years.
- Senior captain Benjamin Freeman has appeared in 132 games and is the Huskies active career scoring leader with 75 points on 25 goals and 50 assists.
