Vatrano Leads Massachusetts Past American International, 7-1
Sophomore Frank Vatrano registers two goals and assist for Minutemen

Sophomore Frank Vatrano scored two goals and an assist for the Minutemen
Prd Time  Team Score Type Scored By Assists
1st 0:57  UMA1-0 EV Dennis Kravchenko (4)Troy Power/4, Marc Hetnik/3
1st 6:10  UMA2-0 EV GW Steven Iacobellis (3)Marc Hetnik/4, Frank Vatrano/3
1st 12:12  UMA3-0 EV Frank Vatrano (2)Steven Iacobellis/5, Ray Pigozzi/5
1st 17:25  UMA4-0 EV Zack LaRue (3)Steven Guzzo/2, Dominic Trento/1
2nd 11:04  UMA5-0 EV Jake Horton (3)Dennis Kravchenko/4
3rd 9:53  AIC1-5 PP Austin Orszulak (4)Dominic Racobaldo/1, Andrew Debrincat/3
3rd 11:53  UMA6-1 EV Zack LaRue (4)Steven Guzzo/3
3rd 13:29  UMA7-1 EV Frank Vatrano (3)Steven Iacobellis/6, Patrick Lee/4
Scoring 1st 2nd 3rd Final
American International  0011
Massachusetts  4127
Shots on Goal 1st 2nd 3rd SOG
American International  55818
Massachusetts  1081129
Team Stats and Records  PP PIM SHGF
American International (2-5-1)  1/5 4/8 0
Massachusetts (3-5-0)  0/4 5/10 0
American International Goaltending MIN GA 1 2 3 Saves
Alex Murray (L, 2-2-1)48:015 67417
Hunter Leisner11:592 0055
Massachusetts Goaltending MIN GA 1 2 3 Saves
Henry Dill (W, 3-2-0)51:501 55313
Alex Wakaluk8:100 0044

AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass hockey team opened the night with four goals on 10 shots in the first period and never looked back, rolling to a 7-1 win over American International on Friday at the Mullins Center. With the victory, the Minutemen improve to 3-5-0 on the year, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 2-5-1 overall.

Five UMass players logged multi-point nights, led by three-point efforts from redshirt sophomore Frank Vatrano (2g, 1a) and sophomore Steven Iacobellis (1g, 2a). Both players extended point scoring streaks to four games and three games, respectively. Vatrano now has six points (3g, 3a) over the past four contests.

Senior Zack LaRue contributed a pair of tallies for his first career multi-goal game and second multi-point game of the season. Freshman Dennis Kravchenko extended his goal-scoring streak to three straight games and his point streak to four after recording a goal and an assist tonight, his sixth and seventh points over the past three games.

Sophomore Marc Hetnik and redshirt senior Steven Guzzo added two assists apiece, Hetnik's first career multi-point game. Freshman Jake Horton posted his third goal of the season and classmate Dominic Trento notched his first collegiate point with an assist in UMass' highest scoring output since Nov. 11, 2011 against Holy Cross.

Kravchenko opened the scoring just 57 seconds into the game, finishing off an odd-man rush from redshirt senior Troy Power and Hetnik.

Iacobellis added the Minutemen's second at the 6:10 mark of the first, driving in sophomore Ray Pigozzi's pass from below the goal line from the slot.

UMass' third tally came on another odd-man rush with Pigozzi and Iacobellis setting up Vatrano's first of the night 12:12 into the opening period.

LaRue capped off the scoring in the frame with a one-timer from Guzzo and Trento at the 17:25 mark.

Horton provided the lone goal of the second period 11:04 into the stanza, carrying the puck into AIC's zone off a center ice faceoff win by Kravchenko and knocking in his own rebound.

The Yellow Jackets broke through for their only goal of the night 9:53 into the third as Austin Orszulak buried a one-timer from Dominic Racobaldo and Andrew DeBrincat on the power play.

LaRue's second of the night came right off a faceoff win by Guzzo two minutes after AIC's tally, bringing the score to 6-1 at the 11:53 mark of the final stanza.

Driving to the net after receiving the puck from Iacobellis and Patrick Lee in the neutral zone, Vatrano tacked on UMass' seventh and final goal 13:29 into the third.

UMass out-shot the Yellow Jackets, 29-18 on the evening and won 41-of-72 (56.9%) faceoffs. AIC went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Minutemen were 0-for-4.

Freshman Henry Dill made 13 saves in net for UMass and picked up the win before being relieved by sophomore Alex Wakaluk who stopped all four shots he faced in his season debut. Alex Murray and Hunter Leisner finished with 17 and five saves, respectively, for the Yellow Jackets.

The Minutemen will be idle for two weeks until the squad returns to action at home against #3 Boston College on Friday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m.