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HighlightsAMHERST, Mass. – Kevin Roy had five points (two goals, three assists) and the Northeastern men's ice hockey team (5-10-1) scored five power play goals to skate to an 8-3 victory at Massachusetts (4-12-0) on Tuesday night at the Mullins Center.
Twelve Huskies recorded points on the night, including multi-point efforts from
Matt Benning (three assists),
Dalen Hedges (three assists),
Colton Saucerman (one goal, one assist) and
Mike Szmatula (two goals).
Clay Witt made 31 stops in goal to lead Northeastern, which finished the game 5-of-9 on the man advantage.
UMass outshot NU 34-24 and was 1-of-5 on the power play. Frank Vatrano had a pair of goals for the Minutemen, while Steve Mastalerz made 15 saves in relief of Henry Dill.
Northeastern bolted out to a commanding 3-0 lead in the first period, scoring all of its goals in the first 11 minutes of the frame. The first came four minutes into the period when Rosenthal scored his fourth goal of the season off a clean face-off win from
John Stevens. After Rosenthal collected the puck just above the hashmarks, he fired a shot that caught Dill in the shoulder before trickling over the goal line for a 1-0 NU lead.
Two minutes later, Szmatula put the Huskies up 2-0 with a rocket over Dill's shoulder for Szmatula's fifth of the season.
Kevin Roy began the play by controlling the puck behind the cage before taking it out along the half wall and feeding Szmatula in the slot for a one-timer that beat Dill over his glove.
Northeastern made it 3-0 with a power play tally from Szmatula. With the Huskies playing catch with the puck in the UMass zone, Szmatula threw a low shot on goal that hit a Minuteman defender and squeaking through the pads of Dill, prompting Massachusetts to insert Steve Mastalerz into the game in goal.
At the other end of the ice, Witt handled all 10 shots he faced, and made a pair of big stops in the final minutes of the stanza with a glove save on Frank Vatrano after a right pad stop on Zack LaRue.
NU continued to find the net in the second period, adding another three goals to take a 6-2 lead through 40 minutes of play. Roy made it a 4-0 game just 1:52 into the frame when he took a pass from
Dalen Hedges, toe-dragged around a UMass defender and fired a shot past Mastalerz for Roy's fourth goal of the year.
UMass got itself on the board six minutes later when Patrick Lee took a cross-ice feed from Troy Power to beat Roy over the glove for Lee's third of the season. Northeastern answered right back with a goal from
Adam Reid 46 seconds after the Lee tally, receiving a pass from
Dylan Sikura to sneak a shot past Mastalerz for Reid's first of the season.
Frank Vatrano brought Massachusetts within four with 8:04 left in the second period when he sent a laser past Witt off a clean face-off win from Steven Iacobellis, but once against Northeastern would strike back soon after as
Zach Aston-Reese buried NU's third power play tally of the evening off a pass from Rosenthal.
The NU power play controlled the game into the third period as Roy put the Huskies up 7-2 three minutes into the frame when he finished off some tic-tac-toe passing with
Mike McMurtry and Hedges.
Colton Saucerman added a power play of his own with 6:56 left in regulation on a one-timer following a feed from
Mike McMurtry before Vatrano made it an 8-3 game with a goal on the man advantage late in regulation.
The Huskies will be off for more than two weeks before returning to action on Jan. 2 against St. Lawrence. Puck drop at Matthews Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
Season tickets, as well as individual game tickets, are available for men's ice hockey and can be purchased by visiting
GoNU.com/tickets. In addition, the student sale for the 2015 Beanpot will take place on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Matthews Arena lobby. Please contact the Ticket Office by calling 617-373-4700 or emailing
huskytix@neu.edu with any questions.
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Game Notes:
• Northeastern's eight goals were the most goals scored since they scored eight at Dartmouth on Dec. 30, 2013.
• NU's eight goals were the most goals scored against a conference opponent since scoring eight at Vermont on Jan. 27, 2012.
• Northeastern scored five power play goals on Tuesday, the most for the team since scoring five against Merrimack on Nov. 21, 1992.
• 13 different players recorded at least one point on Tuesday at UMass.
• Tuesday's win marked the second straight season that NU has headed into the holiday break following a win, and third time in the last four season.
• All four of Colton Saucerman's goals this season have come on the power play. He's tied for eighth in the nation in power play goals, and is one of two defensemen in the country with at least four power play tallies.
• Mike Szmatula recorded his third career multi-goal game, and second of the season.
• Kevin Roy has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his last six games.
• Clay Witt recorded at least 30 saves in goal for the third time this season, and 28th time in his career. .