Senior forward P.J. Fenton scored a career high four points with one goal and three assists as the No. 11 UMass Minutemen defeated New Hampshire 4-1 at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen stretched their unbeaten streak to 13 (9-0-4.)
UMass grabbed the lead in the second period, notching the first two goals of the game. Senior defenseman David Leaderer put home a rebound off a shot from junior Chris Davis at 3:17, and at 12:37 Michael Lecomte gave UMass a 2-0 advantage after taking a pass from James Marcou right in between the faceoff circles. Lecomte wristed the shot past sophomore goaltender Brian Foster.
UNH fired 18 shots on UMass freshman goaltender Paul Dainton in the second period, but only managed to slip a power play goal past him when Mike Radja fired one in from right in from of the crease with 3:36 remaining in the period, ending Dainton’s shutout stretch at 142:52.
UMass put the game away in the third period with two power play goals. At the 4:56 mark, Davis made a pass to Will Ortiz, who put a slap shot on net. Fenton was in front to tip it past Foster to give UMass a 3-1 lead. Junior forward Cory Quirk iced the game at the 12:35 mark.
There were plenty of penalties issued in the game, with UMass taking 9-for-29 minutes, and UNH 10-for-20 minutes. In the second period, coincidental minors for hitting after the whistle filled the penalty boxes with three players in each. Penalties proved to be costly for UNH in the final period as they took 5-for-10 minutes and UMass went 2-for-3 on the power play.
UNH outshot UMass 33-31, but Dainton made 32 saves to Foster’s 27. UMass is now 7-0-2 when scoring three or more goals this year and 38-0-1 in their last 39 games when scoring four or more goals.
The Minutemen remain undefeated at home (4-0-3) and improve to 7-3-5 overall and 4-2-4 in Hockey East. UNH now stands at 8-4-1 overall and 5-4-1 in Hockey East.
The Minutemen will head to Tampa, Fla. for the Lightning College Hockey Classic at the St. Pete Times Forum on December 29 and 30.
