SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- No. 13 University of Massachusetts hockey fought back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a 2-2 tie in the team's season opener against AIC at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night. The Minutemen begin the year at 0-0-1, while the Yellow Jackets sit at 0-1-2.
"I wish we would've come out and played like we did in the last 10 minutes," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "We finally found some desperation. We didn't get pucks to the net for the first 50 minutes. We're working on habits and details, again, a lot of new players. It takes time. I have a lot of respect for AIC, they're really well coached and I like playing them because it's a good honest game."
AIC opened the scoring 18:01 into the second period with Blake Bennett lofting a puck over Luke Pavicich from the slot at the end of a long shift for both teams.
The Yellow Jackets then stretched their advantage to 2-0 at the 7:05 mark of the third with Dustin Manz centering the puck for Oscar Geschwind who slid it under Pavicich at the doorstep. Luis Lindner earned the secondary assist on the play.
UMass took one of the goals back 12:52 into the third. Josh Nodler fired home his first as a Minuteman in his 100th collegiate game from the slot off a feed from sophomores Ryan Lautenbach and Lucas Mercuri.
The Minutemen then tied things up at two just 1:11 later. Sophomore Scott Morrow danced around an AIC defender and sent the puck towards goal. Senior Cal Kiefiuk then redirected it to a waiting Reed Lebster at the back post where he tapped it in.
Both squads had chances in the extra frame but were unable to convert. The Yellow Jackets finished with a 36-34 edge in shots on goal and UMass went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play.
Pavicich recorded 34 stops for the Minutemen and AIC netminder Jarrett Fiske had 32 saves on the evening.
UMass will be back in action next Friday and Saturday, October 14-15 when the squad will host No. 1 Denver at the Mullins Center for its 2022-23 home opening weekend. Friday's contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
