AMHERST, Mass. - Two goals from Alex Berry and four assists from James Marcou was enough for UMass Hockey to upset No. 3 Northeastern Friday night at the Mullins Center, 6-4. Ryan Ginand scored twice for the Huskies (17-6-2, 13-4-1 HEA), while Brad Thiessen made 25 saves in goal. Paul Dainton got the start in net for the Minutemen, making 35 saves. UMass will travel to Orono, Maine to square off against the Black Bears on Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPNU and is scheduled to start at 4 PM.
Northeastern outshot the Minutemen 39-31 for the game, while UMass (11-11-3, 6-7-3 HEA) was a perfect 2-for-2 on the power play. The Minutemen have now converted on their last three power play opportunities. The Huskies went 3-for-7 on the man advantage.
The Minutemen came out hard in the first period, pressuring Northeastern and scoring twice to take an early 2-0 lead. Just 1:16 into the frame, Berry netted his ninth goal of the season off a turnover. After a Northeastern defender couldn't control the puck near the blueline, Berry picked out the loose puck and wristed a shot off the post and past Thiessen for the score.
UMass took a 2-0 lead near the midway mark of the period when Wellman notched his seventh goal of the year. After Justin Braun sent a low shot through traffic, Wellman was there to bang home the rebound under Thiessen's pads. Matt Irwin also assisted on the goal.
The Huskies had some chances of their own throughout the period, but Dainton was there to turn away all 14 Northeastern shots, nine coming on the power play.
The teams traded power play goals during the second period, with the Huskies outshooting UMass 12-10. Northeastern got on the board early in the stanza when Ryan Ginand scored his 16th goal of the season just 1:03 into the period. After receiving a pass from Joe Vitale at the doorstep, Ginand pounded the puck home before Dainton could get across to make the save.
The Minutemen brought their lead back to two six minutes later on Quirk's eighth goal of the season. While on a 4-on-3 power play, Quirk and James Marcou played catch in the Northeastern zone. Quirk then threw a quick shot on goal that was blocked, but he gathered the rebound and buried the puck before Thiessen could recover.
Berry added his second goal of the game at the 9:13 mark of the third period to give UMass the 4-1 advantage. Will Ortiz made it 5-1 at 11:26, converting a 3-on-0 for his sixth goal of the season. T.J. Syner and Casey Wellman were sprung all alone on Thiessen. Syner made the pass to Ortiz in the neutral zone and Ortiz made a move around the Northeastern goalie and slid the puck into the open net.
The teams scored four goals in the last 4:33, including a Chris Davis shot that knuckled past Thiessen and into the open net. The Huskies added two late goals to bring it back to a two-goal game, but the Minutemen were able to weather the final five minutes for the win.