BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
AMHERST, MA – The tenth-ranked and Hockey East’s first-place team, the UMASS Minutemen, rode a two-goal, three-point performance by forward, Carson Gicewicz, to pull away from the UCONN Huskies for a 6-2 win on a Wednesday afternoon holiday Hockey East matchup.
UCONN’s record drops to 1-4-1. They’re in need of a break to regroup. UMASS, meanwhile, improved its mark to 5-3-1 and they’re on a three-game winning streak.
“The key to the game was they were three-for-seven on the powerplay and we were oh-for-five. I thought five-on-five we did well. It was a pretty even game. We had a lot of chances. We just have to bear down a little bit better,” UCONN Head Coach, Mike Cavanaugh, said.
Gicewicz, a transfer from St. Lawrence, now has four goals in his last two games.
“He was outstanding tonight,” UMASS Head Coach, Greg Carval, stated. “He had real energy for us tonight. Every second he was on the ice tonight, he was making things happen; making plays or being physical.”
UCONN for a brief 1:05 span where they actually narrowed the gap to 3-2.
Hudson Schandor scored his first collegiate goal. He put in the rebound of a Nick Capone’s shot off Jake Flynn’s right point shot. The goal came at the 3:00 mark and breathed life into the Huskies.
Jonny Evans pumped in a little more oxygen with his third goal of the season. After cleanly winning the draw, the puck went back to Harrison Rees for a shot from the right point. Kale Howarth had an attempt but Evans was in a perfect spot to pounce on the loose puck and put it past Matt Murray and at 4:05.
“I liked our fight when we got those two quick goals,” remarked Cavanaugh. “Then they got the powerplay goal. They were much better on the powerplay and that was the difference in the game.”
That was all the energy UCONN could put on UMASS and they galloped past the Huskies to a four-goal advantage.
UMASS took over with their coach shortening his bench to just three lines the rest of the way, despite being down a forward. Oliver Chau was out after going down with an injury midway in the second period.
“That’s been a focus point. We want to play the game as fast as we can. We transitioned well and got up the ice quickly, and we got those odd-man rushes. We’re playing with pace and I feel we’re growing our identity as a team, and playing fast is a part of it,” Carvel said.
UMASS got a powerplay tally. Zac Jones, the UMASS powerplay director, spotted Gicewicz 15 feet out. Jones made a short pass and put it right on Gicewicz’s tape and deftly redirected the puck that UCONN goaltender, Tomas Vomacka, a shot he had zero chance of stopping.
“That’s where Zac shines. He really sees the game well and controls the puck so well. We have been really focused on that (the powerplay). We have two really solid units. That was a huge factor tonight. Our PK was outstanding too, UCONN had four or five chances, but they really didn’t set up much.”
At the other end of the ice, the penalty disparity was noticeable.
“We certainly took too many penalties, but I haven’t seen them, (review the game tape) so I don’t want to comment on the penalties. If it’s a roughing or charging penalty you can live with that, if it’s a lazy stick penalty, that’s another thing. We don’t want to be taking seven penalties a game,” Cavanaugh said, alluding to his displeasure with some of the calls from the officiating crew.
How good was UMASS on special teams? They got half their offensive output on special teams.
UMASS built a three-goal cushion at 10:07 as Minnesota transfer, Garrett Wait, snagged his second of the season and the second against UCONN on a terrific play. He split the middle of Brian Rigali and John Spetz. The UMASS speed allowed him to redirect a pass from Bobby Trivigno as he swept around the net. Roman Kinal tried in vain to catch him and the goal made it 5-2.
Gicewicz added the last goal of the night. After blocking Kinal’s shot at the left point, he raced down the right-wing, faked a slapshot, got Vomacka frozen, and sailed his fourth goal in two games far side at 12:11.
The second period saw UMASS use its speed and skills to score twice and take command of the game.
The Minutemen struck at 56 seconds. Matt Kessel buried his fourth goal on the left-wing as Gicewica took Trivigno’s pass from the top of the right-wing circle, went straight down the middle, faked a shot, made a shoulder deke, and fed Kessel, who wired it to the short-side for 2-0 lead.
UCONN had a glorious chance midway through the period as they had a rare two-on-nothing break with Marc Gatcomb and Carter Turnbull catching UMASS on a bad line change.
Turnbull had his shot turned away on the left-wing side. Matt Murray, looking like his NHL namesake, turned the shot aside.
“You gotta make those count,” Cavanaugh said succinctly.
Carvel, a tough taskmaster, was impressed with his performance and that game-changing play that could have given UCONN some real extra energy at that point.
“Matt Murray was excellent tonight. He was really solid and in control of the puck. I’ve been critical, no (rather) I’ve been honest with him. He was not on top of his game last weekend. I thought from tonight he was on it and locked in. That was halfway through the game and if he plays like that the rest of the way we’re gonna win a lot of games.”
UMASS used the larger ice surface and their top-flight puck possession skills to force UCONN into chasing them all over the Mullins Center ice surface.
Only a herculean effort from Evans prevented UMASS from going up 3-0 at 13:40.
UMASS’s quick transition-speed formed a three-on-one break-in. Gaudet’s right-wing feed to Josh Lopina in the middle got by Evans, who raced on the backcheck to knock Lopina off the puck and was at the UCONN goal line looking to score for the Huskies.
UMASS’s strong offensive zone work paid off as they made the score 3-0.
Trivigno won a battle in the right-wing corner and fed Ty Farmer at the right point. He zipped a pass to Aaron Bohlinger in the left-wing circle. In turn, he found last week’s Hockey East Player of Week in Trivigno, who was cruising in front for a superb re-direct past a helpless Vomacka at 16:24.
The Huskies penchant for taking penalties early in games allowed the Minuteman to grab the 1-0 lead.
The speedy Chau raced into the UCONN end of the international-sized ice surface on the left-wing and tossed it back to Jones, his defenseman, who was just inside the blue line.
Jones put a solid shot on net with a screen in front. The New York Rangers 2018 draft choice tallied his third of the season at 3:20 for a power play tally.
“Zac did a really good job. He had the screen in front and shot it up high. He really can control the power play along the blue line. He’s really good and calm in those situations.”
There was little five-on-five play during the first 10-11 minutes of the game. The two teams exchanged chances, but with 2:22 left in the period, Zac Robbins came off the bench and took a pass from Kinal at the left point. Robbins used his speed and charged in on the right-wing where he took a backhanded shot that Murray pushed aside to the right wing corner.
Vomacka prevented the Minutemen from getting a second goal with a stick save and with 53.9 seconds left, Adam Karachik’s right point bid from the blue line was stopped.
