FAIRFIELD, CT – The No. 15 Massachusetts hockey team got itself back in the win column on Saturday night, avenging a Friday night loss to Sacred Heart at the Mullins Center by thumping the Pioneers (1-2) 6-1 in their home arena.
Despite taking a 2-1 lead into the third period behind freshman Francesco Dell’Elce’s first two collegiate goals, UMass (3-2) head coach Greg Carvel wasn’t happy with the way his team looked through 40 minutes. During the second intermission, Carvel delivered a message in the locker room to – in his words – “rattle their cages.”
His message certainly worked as the Minutemen came out in the third period with a new gusto, catching Sacred Heart off guard by pressing for offense. UMass capitalized on this newfound sense of energy quickly when Lucas Mercuri masterfully deflected a low shot from Cole O’Hara over the right shoulder of Pioneer netminder Cullen DeYoung.
“I think it was a great play by my teammates who were playing cross up the ice,” Mercuri said. “[O’Hara] got a shot to the net and I was lucky enough to just tip it in.”
The tide swung heavily in favor of the Minutemen after Mercuri’s goal, as Jack Musa and Cam O’Neill both scored within the next three minutes to make the score 5-1, eliminating any chance of a Sacred Heart comeback and sending Pioneer fans to the exits early.
“Rattled their cages a little bit and the guys raised their level, that’s what they’re capable of doing,” Carvel said of his team’s performance in the third period. “Puck starts bouncing your way when you start playing a little harder, and that was, to me, what happened in the third period.”
Although the final score might not suggest it, the game was tightly contested for a majority of the 60 minutes. Sacred Heart’s Max Dorrington was called for kneeing less than 30 seconds into the second period, giving UMass an early opportunity to prove that its offense would show up in Fairfield.
The Minutemen struggled on their first power play of the game in the first period, and the power play units began Dorrington’s time served looking just as antsy with the puck as they were in the first.
With less than 10 seconds left on the man advantage however, UMass created a scoring opportunity off of an uncontrolled rebound. Ryan Lautenbach sent a shot at DeYoung that he couldn’t corral, allowing the puck to kick all the way out to Dell’Elce at the point. The freshman didn’t think twice before slapping a howitzer at the open net, putting the Minutemen up 1-0.
“It was a pretty quiet game, there weren’t a lot of chances up until that point, so Francesco getting the power play goal was great,” Carvel said. “[Dell’Elce]’s proven quickly that he’s going to be a difference maker for us.”
Dell’Elce tacked on another goal in the second period that made the score 2-0 at the time. He finished the night with three points, his first three contributions to the scoresheet this season.
“It was a very exciting moment, something I’ve been waiting for and working towards,” Dell’Elce said. “On the first one, the puck kind of just kicked out to me and a lane just opened up… [and I] just put it where I saw it.”
Along with Dell’Elce, O’Hara had a three point night himself, bringing his season total up to nine through the first five games of the season. In addition to his two assists, the junior scored UMass’ sixth and final goal off of a power play. O’Hara’s nine points put him tied for first nationally with Noah Beck of Arizona State and Ben Muthersbaugh of Union.
The Minutemen will be back in action against another Connecticut-based opponent next weekend, taking on the UConn Huskies. The first puck drop of the two-game series is on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
Matt Skillings can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @matt_skillings.
