The No. 15 Massachusetts hockey team battled its way to a 5-3 win against Northern Michigan in its season opener. The Minutemen (1-0) outshot the Wildcats (0-1) 70-26 and controlled play for most of the game, but it took a three-goal third period to secure the win.
With just over six minutes remaining in the game and the score knotted at three, UMass controlled possession inside the offensive zone. Charlie Lieberman swung a pass to Francesco Dell’Elce, who walked the blue line, probing for a shooting lane. The sophomore defenseman found his window and capitalized, whipping a waist-high wrister through traffic and past the glove of William Gramme to give the Minutemen a late 4-3 lead.
“[Scoring] feels great,” Dell’Elce said. “I mean, obviously, you want to help the team out in any way you can, so it’s a good feeling.”
After entering the third period tied at two, NMU’s Medrick Bolduc broke the deadlock with a gritty goal, jamming away at a loose puck in the crease four minutes into the period. A minute later, freshman Vaclav Nestrasil responded, scoring his first UMass goal off a deflection as he crashed the back post.
Despite entering the second period in a 2-1 deficit, the Minutemen scored first and logged 35 shots in the first period. Just under four minutes into the game, UMass forwards battled in the corner to regain possession after losing an offensive zone faceoff. The puck bounced out into the slot, where Jack Musa was left uncovered. The junior wasted little time, ripping a shot glove-side to beat Gramme.
“It’s the first game of the year,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “These guys trained for the last five, six months, and they’re all obviously excited. They came out flying. I think we had 35 shots in the first period. It’s usually a pretty good game to get 35 shots.”
The Minutemen continued their offensive onslaught into the second period, tying the game at two. Freshman Lukas Klecka flipped a backhand shot into the goal for his first as a Minuteman.
“It felt like a lopsided game,” Carvel said. “But give Northern Michigan credit, we came out in the first period flying, and they kind of balanced the game back out and took the lead.”
Both the power play and penalty kill struggled. UMass went 0-5 with the man advantage, generating eight shots but failing to execute clean zone entries or create high-danger chances. The penalty kill conceded a goal on the Wildcat’s first power play, leaving Caiden Gault open on the right faceoff dot. Jakub Altrichter slid a pass from the point, and Gault hammered a one-timer past Michael Hrabal.
Musa and Owen Murray each notched three points in the game. Musa assisted on Dell’Elce’s game-winning goal and tacked on an empty-net goal to secure the win. Murray produced three assists.
“Very, very happy for a first game,” Carvel said. “I saw a lot of good things. At the same time, though, your young players made some mistakes in the game that they have to make for us to correct, but up and down the lineup, I thought all four lines played well, the defense played well. We played a hell of a game and Northern Michigan made us fight for it.”
The Minutemen return to action against Northern Michigan on Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Mullins Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
James Rust can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @James__Rust.
