The No. 15 Massachusetts hockey team defeated Northern Michigan 4-1 to complete the weekend sweep in its opening series. Entering the season, there were lingering questions about who would provide the bulk of the Minutemen’s (2-0) offense, but through two games, the top line of Daniel Jenčko, Mikey DeAngelo and Jack Musa has answered the bell.
An early hooking penalty on the Wildcats’ (0-2) Grayden Slipec sent UMass to the power play with 14 and a half minutes remaining in the first period. After going 0-4 on the power play Saturday night, the Minutemen desperately needed to capitalize on the man advantage.
The first unit, consisting of Jenčko, DeAngelo, Musa, Vaclav Nestrasil and Francesco Dell’Elce quickly set up after DeAngelo won the faceoff in the offensive zone. Musa slid a pass over to Dell’Ellce, who passed the puck across the blue line to Jenčko.
The sophomore from Slovakia took his time and space, gliding towards the top of the faceoff circle. Jenčko whipped a perfectly placed wrist shot over the glove of William Gramme to give UMass a 1-0 lead.
“[Jenčko} has good skill level and he’s got a good shot,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “He’s got great skill level, and he’s a smart player. He needs to be a really reliable player for us. He needs to give us offense and be a good defensive player, and we’ll get him there, but there’s some room for growth.”
Jenčko’s linemate, Musa, opened the scoring for the Minutemen in Saturday’s game. DeAngelo and Jenčko battled for a loose puck against the left-wing boards with Musa lingering near the faceoff dot. Jenčko guided the puck up the boards to DeAngelo, who deflected it towards the faceoff circle. The puck landed right on Musa’s stick, and the junior wasted no time ripping a shot past Gramme.
“[Musa] better [have an impact],” Carvel said. “We need him to have a huge impact, and that was my discussion with him. He’s been an excellent player for us, but now he needs to be the go-to player, and he needs to have points every night.”
Through two games, Musa tallied five points from three goals, including two empty-net goals, and two assists. Jenčko has a goal and an assist, and DeAngelo has notched an assist.
Beyond the point totals, however, is their ability to create dangerous scoring chances from any area on the ice. Shortly before Jenčko’s power play goal, Musa gathered the puck behind the Northern Michigan goal. The Florida native skated to his left before spinning around and wheeling a pass to DeAngelo, who was crashing the net. The sophomore couldn’t finish, but it produced a quality scoring opportunity early in a tie game.
With five minutes left in the first period, the top line hemmed the Wildcats in the offensive zone. DeAngelo made several strong plays along the boards to stop Northern Michigan from breaking out and set up more scoring opportunities for Musa and Jenčko.
“[Playing with Musa and DeAngelo] has been great,” Jenčko said. “We’ve been practicing all preseason like this. I like those guys, we are good off the ice and on the ice, so I think our chemistry just transitions to on the ice. I like to play with those guys.”
With the departure of two 20-goal scorers in Cole O’Hara and Aydar Suniev, there was room for offensive growth from returning players, like Musa and Jenčko, along with experienced transfers like DeAngelo. This series against the Wildcats showed that UMass’ top line is ready to fill that scoring vacuum.
The Minutemen will return to the ice against Stonehill on Friday, Oct. 10. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Warrior Ice Arena and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
James Rust can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @James__Rust.
