Five different rookie goal scorers helped the host Minutemen jump out to a 2-0 lead before the 10-minute mark of the first period and then finish the lone rubber game on the opening weekend of Hockey East postseason play with three unanswered goals. Jake Gaudet, John Leonard, and Mario Ferraro each contributed a goal and an assist for head coach Greg Carvel’s UMass squad, which earned its first postseason series win since 2007.
“First of all, that was a really good hockey series,” said Carvel, whose team improves to 17-18-2 on the season with two victories on the weekend. “Vermont played hard and I think tonight the difference was that we came out in the first period and played the way we needed to. We weren’t able to do that in the first two games.”
The Minutemen faced 2-0 deficits in the first and second games of the series, but got off to a fast start in the finisher. Ferraro opened the scoring just 2:40 into the opening period, while Gaudet doubled the lead with the eventual game-winner at 9:53.
Matt O’Donnell cut the Catamount deficit to 2-1 at the 4:53 mark of the second, but Austin Albrecht and Oliver Chau gave UMass a three-goal lead with tallies in less than eight minutes thereafter. Leonard added an unassisted tally 13:09 into a third period in which the visitors held a 14-5 shooting advantage.
Ryan Wischow stopped all 14 Vermont shots he faced in the final frame and finished his eighth win of the season with 30 saves. Stefanos Lekkas made 25 saves for the Catamounts.
With the victory, the Minutemen will travel to Matthews Arena in Boston for a quarterfinal clash against second-seeded Northeastern beginning Friday. UMass was projected to finish in a tie for last in Hockey East with Maine prior to the season.
“Our team’s common goal this year was to gain some respect for this hockey program and I think we’ve far exceeded even my hopes for this season,” Carvel said. “To get home ice and then win a series, we’re now in uncharted waters as far as projections for this year.”
