AMHERST — Senior captain Bobby Trivigno got things started and put the bow on a 3-0 UMass hockey victory over New Hampshire with two goals Friday at the Mullins Center.
He opened the scoring 8 minutes, 47 seconds into the game on the power play. Reed Lebster delivered him a pass across the ice, and Trivigno skated into wide open space to let the shot rip. Scott Morrow added an assist on the play.
Trivigno was playing with freshmen Lucas Mercuri and Ryan Lautenbach on the first line after a consistent shuffle over the past few weeks caused by injuries to four of UMass’ top six forwards. Trivigno has six goals and eight assists this season. His 14 points rank fourth in Hockey East.
“He’s one of those players it doesn’t matter who he’s playing with. he’s going to find ways to score and be effective. That’s why I put the two freshman in there, partially to pull the two freshman along,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “Bobby’s an elite player at this level in our league. To me, he stands out like a sore thumb. For good reasons.”
He’s also established himself as an essential component of UMass’ power play unit, which went 1-for-2 against the Wildcats and has converted five of its last 12 chances.
“The biggest thing is not forcing plays and seeing what’s there and taking what’s given to us,” Trivigno said.
The teams combined for 18 shots in the first period, then UMass (7-3-1, 5-1-1 Hockey East) clamped down on defense. The Minutemen held New Hampshire without an attempt on goal for 22:04 spanning most of the second period.
UMass goalie Matt Murray posted his second shutout of the season with 21 saves.
“I thought we had a lot of fluff on the outside, o-zone stuff that didn’t amoutn to anything,” UNH coach Mike Souza said. “We didn’t get inside the dots, and credit to them.”
Defenseman Colin Felix doubled the lead with 2:01 left. Anthony Del Gaizo slid him a fundamental pass near the blue line, and Felix shook his defender with a toe drag above the circle before letting a wrist shot rip. Aaron Bohlinger added the secondary assist.
“We need our blue line to help us right now,” Carvel said. “That was an outstanding goal. That was a really skilled goal. I appreciate how skilled that goal was.”
Defensemen accounted for four points against the Wildcats. Three blue liners had an assist each, and Felix added the goal. That doesn’t even include Ty Farmer sliding over from the defense into the forward group to help bolster UMass’ depth due to the injuries.
“(Farmer’s) a fish out of water. He’s a great kid and a great teammate, and he’s sucking it up and doing it without complaining. He knows he’s supposed to play hard,” Carvel said. “I met with the team on Monday and I was like ‘if I ask you to play goalie, just play goalie and don’t ask why.’ We’re in triage right now, and to win a game 3-0 when we’re really banged up is a good sign.”
UNH pulled its goalie shortly after, and Trivigno made them pay with an empty net goal with 42 seconds left on the clock to close the game out. Slava Demin assisted the play.
The teams will meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Whittemore Center Arena.