The University of Massachusetts men’s club hockey team had a decisive 14-1 win over Keene State College. The Minutemen’s (10-2) first line stole the show, outshooting the Owls (1-5) 48-15 to seal a commanding victory.
“We’ve been working on taking our game to the next level,” head coach Skip Welch said. “The boys executed on everything, right from the drop of the puck.”
Applying strong pressure, Matthew Carrara stole the puck and used his skate to give himself a leading pass, flying past the final Keene State defender. As the Owls quickly closed in, he released the puck in stride and it slipped through Brady Roux’s bottom left pad to get the game winning goal.
Skating from the red line to goal, Zachary Sideropoulos showcased impressive stick handling, maneuvering through three Keene State defenders before being tripped up the Owl’s goalie. The puck remained loose in front of an open net, where Carrara followed the play perfectly and buried it to open the scoring, giving UMass an early 1-0 lead.
After finding open ice, Carrara led a two-on-two rush with wide-open Christian Rosa. Reading the defense perfectly, he sent a cross-ice pass to the forward, who hammered a slap shot into the top corner to finish the play in style.
Continuing an outstanding first line performance, Sideropoulos picked up the puck at the top of the hash marks in the offensive zone faceoff circle and drove hard toward the net. Seeing no clear shooting angle, he accelerated behind the goal and executed a smooth wraparound, tucking the puck in for a highlight-reel finish, to give the Minutemen a 3-0 lead.
The team points leader ended the night with two assists and two goals. His first assist led to Jackson Cerruti’s sole goal of the evening. After Carrara banked the puck off the boards to Sideropoulos, who then skated down the left side of the ice and carried it into the corner. From there, he sent a crisp pass across to Cerruti, who tapped it in for a clean finish.
Sideropoulos’ second goal came from an initial Rosa shot that produced a rebound, which Carrara quickly collected. Faking a shot to draw out Roux and deked him to slide a perfect pass across the crease to Sideropoulos, who tapped it into the open net for an easy finish.
“I think they had a goal every shift in the first period,” Welch said. “They were on fire.”
Staying patient in the offensive zone, Brendan Tourgee cycled the puck out to Joey Le Blanc, who sent a low shot toward the net. Dominic Boccelli was perfectly positioned in front to get the deflection and add to UMass’ lead.
Afterwards, Sideropoulos fired a firm cross-ice pass to Carrara, who carried it wide onto the right side, drawing in two Keene State defenders. He then delivered a sharp cutback pass to Rosa in the slot, who dodged past a defender and fired a shot into the bottom left corner while getting tripped up, capping off a skillful scoring play.
Following that, Harrington made a slick behind-the-back pass to Hayes, who fired a quick shot on goal. When the rebound bounced loose, Concannon was right there to scoop it up and tap it in for another Minutemen goal.
The last goal of the night came seconds later, after forcing a turnover with strong pressure, Concannon scooped up the puck, turned and ripped a shot pass Keene State’s substitute goaltender Adam Omundson. The puck went into the top right corner for his second of the game.
Refusing to back down, the Owls answered when they sent a pass to Jason Green on the right side, who quickly one-timed a leading pass to Aaron O’Connor. Skating centrally past the offensive blue line, O’Connor ripped a shot that beat Minutemen substitute goalie Sam York on his left side to get Keene State on the board.
Rosa was the sole UMass player to receive a penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior.
Both teams subbed out their goalies throughout the game to give their back up’s some minutes. Minutemen goalie Ryan Dailida left the game with a 100% save percentage.
“[Defensively] they controlled the puck well,” Welch said. “So, when they did get down in our end, we were able to transition right back up ice very quickly.”
UMass will next take on RPI on Friday, Nov. 14 for an 8 p.m. puck drop. The game will be streamed live on YouTube.
Skye Cuscuna can be reached at [email protected].