University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
15-14-4, 12-9-2HEA
Massachusetts
20-11-2, 13-8-2HEA
Huskies Clipped by a Goal at No. 8 UMass, 4-3
2/29/2020 11:16:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
AMHERST, Mass. – The UConn men's hockey team fell a goal short on Saturday night, falling at No. 8 Massachusetts, 4-3, to split the weekend Hockey East series with the Minutemen. The Huskies will head into the final weekend of the regular season in sole possession of fourth place in the Hockey East standings.
UMass got a pair of goals from sophomore Marc Del Gaizo as they improve to 20-11-2 on the season and 13-8-2 in Hockey East. The loss drops the Huskies to 15-14-4 overall and 12-9-2 in the league.
The Huskies got goals from sophomores Jonny Evans (North Delta, British Columbia) and Carter Turnbull (Nanainmo, British Columbia) and freshman Jake Flynn (Bridgewater, Mass.) in the loss. Seniors Wyatt Newpower (Hugo, Mass.) and Benjamin Freeman (Falmouth, Maine) each had two assists on the night.
UMass, who never trailed on Saturday, broke a 2-2 tie on a Bobby Trivigno goal at 12:58 of the third. Junior John Leonard followed with his 27th goal of the season for a 4-2 lead. Turnbull pulled the Huskies to within 4-3 but UConn couldn't find any late game heroics on Saturday, failing to find a tying goal.
Del Gazio finished with two goals and an assist while Leonard had a goal and three assists for the Minutemen.
UMass goaltender Matt Murray stopped 31 shots to get the win while the Minutemen went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Huskies were 0-for-5 on the night. UConn goaltender Tomas Vomacka (Trutnov, Czech Republic) stopped 34 shots.
1st Period:
The Huskies and Minutemen traded goals in the first period. UMass struck first, getting the night's first tally at the 3:28 mark. Junior John Leonard centered a pass to Del Gaizo in the slot area who snapped a quick shot past Vomacaka for a 1-0 lead on his third of the season.
UConn got it back late in the period, tying it up at 16:42. Senior Wyatt Newpower (Hugo, Mass.) got the puck up at the blue line and found his way to the right circle, firing on Murray who made the stop. The rebound found Evans in the slot who buried it for his ninth on the season, tying it up at 1-1.
2nd Period:
UMass got their first power play chance in the second period and Del Gaizo delivered his second goal of the night for a 2-1 lead. Zac Jones sent a quick cross ice pass to Del Gaizo in the right circle who snapped a quick shot past Vomacka at the 10:10 mark for a one goal advantage.
The Minutemen did a good job of bottling up the UConn offense, limiting the Huskies to seven shots for the second-straight period while also killing off both UConn power plays.
3rd Period:
UConn tied the game up at the 8:48 mark as Flynn scored his second goal on the season. Senior Alexander Payusov (Montreal, Quebec) sent the puck out high to Flynn at the blue line and the defenseman picked his way to the high slot and buried a wrister through traffic to tie it up at 2-2.
UMass pulled back in front at 12:58 as Trivigno scored his ninth of the season. The Minutemen won a puck battle along the wall and the puck came out to the point to Del Gaizo who fed a cutting Trivigno who got Vomacka out of position and then buried a back-hander.
Leonard made it 4-2 at the 16:41 mark as he tucked in a rebound near the left post, his 27th goal on the season. UConn stormed right back and scored just 13 seconds later off the face-off. Newpower fired on net and the shot was blocked with Turnbull picking up the loose puck and backhanding it past Murray from the slot for his 12th, pulling UConn back within a goal.
The Huskies got Vomacka off for the extra skater with 45 seconds left but couldn't find the tying goal.
Up Next:
UConn will close out the regular season next Friday night, March 6 with a trip up to UMass Lowell.
