AMHERST – The weight UMass dropped on Maine in the first period eventually broke the Black Bears.
The Minutemen put three of their first eight shots in the net then controlled the final two periods of a 4-2 victory Saturday at the Mullins Center.
“It was a pound the rock kind of game,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “We just kept playing hard and eventually scored that goal to separate us.”
The victory split the weekend series after Maine (5-17-4, 3-13-2 Hockey East) prevailed in overtime Friday night. The Minutemen (16-9-2, 11-5-2) had to bounce back into that game after allowing the opening goal.
They didn’t pause Saturday, scoring three goals in the first 11 minutes. Garrett Wait scored 4 minutes, 16 seconds in, ripping home a one-timer from Josh Lopina. Lopina worked his way to the back of the net and found a hovering Wait. Bobby Trivigno picked up an assist on the play.
Then Lopina added a goal of his own five minutes later to make it 2-0. He deflected a Scott Morrow pass into the net for his seventh goal of the season. Trivigno also factored into that goal. He had three assists in the game.
“Any time you start a game like that, it’s demoralizing for the other team,” Trivigno said.
Eric Faith tacked on a third goal 90 seconds later. Ryan Ufko fed him a long stretch pass, and Faith sized up Maine goalie Victor Ostman with Anthony Del Gaizo to his left in a two on one. Faith glanced over at Del Gaizo in a fake then ripped a wrist shot into the back of the net.
“Eric does a lot of good things for us. He doesn’t score a lot of goals,” Carvel said. “It’s great. He’s a great, awesome kid. Certain kids on the team, when they score, everybody goes ballistic. And I couldn’t help it, I started screaming.”
Eric Faith with the top shelf rocket on the 2-on-1 to extend the @UMassHockey lead in the 1st period 🚀👀
Tune into @NESN for the Hockey East Game of the Week#HockeyEast | #WhereChampionsPlay pic.twitter.com/r2HJdbGqrI
— Hockey East (@hockey_east) February 13, 2022
It was just Faith’s second goal of the season. He previously scored in the second game of the season against Minnesota State, UMass’ first of the year.
“Obviously it’s nice to see the puck go in. But for me, it’s not about points, it’s not about goals. I try to focus on being tough on the defensive side of the puck and that’s my focus going forward,” Faith said. “It’s not the end of the world if I don’t score.”
The Minutemen didn’t make it that easy on themselves. They committed three penalties in a seven-minute span, and Maine scored power play goals on two of them.
Ryan Sullivan was called for tripping at 12:13, which the Minutemen killed, then UMass was whistled for too many men 37 seconds after that expired.
Donavan Villeneuve-Houle, Friday’s overtime hero, scored on a rebound from David Breazeale and Jakub Sirota to make it 3-1.
Not even a minute later, Trivigno went to the box for tripping at 17:36. Adrien Bisson pulled the Black Bears within a goal with 57 seconds left in the period. Damuel Duerr and Keenan Suthers assisted on the play.
UMass was playing without Cal Kiefiuk, one of its primary penalty killers who left Friday’s game with an injury.
“You get worn down. We’re down to six killers, really, so we had to over play them,” Carvel said. “Maine did a nice job. They picked us apart at times on the power play.”
After the first period buzzer sounded, though, it was all UMass. The Minutemen only allowed 10 shots on goal over the final two periods. Matt Murray stopped all of them, finishing with 22 saves.
Faith had a goal called back in the second period, and UMass put four shots on net during its two power plays that frame.
“That’s their game. They grind it out, and eventually you’re gonna break,” Maine coach Ben Barr said.
UMass’ fourth goal was worth the delay. Wait found the net for the sixth time in the past four games, slapping his own rebound out of the air. Trivigno notched his third assist of the game on the play, and Ufko added a second.
“He’s a simple player, just goes to the net and has a really get shot. He’s getting rewarded for his hard work,” Trivigno said. “He’s getting exactly what he deserves.”
The win gave UMass a share of first place in Hockey East, at least for the night. The Minutemen have 37 points, even with UMass Lowell after the River Hawks fell to New Hampshire on Sunday. Even after that game, the Minutemen will have two more conference games than Lowell to accrue points.
“We played more integrity without the puck. Crazy number of odd man rushes, breakaways, that wasn’t the case (Saturday),” Carvel said. “The kids were just more focused and ready to play the right way.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.