UMass Preview

Tonight, BU goes for the season sweep of UMass, as the Minutemen come to Agganis. A little less than a month ago, BU took down UMass 5-3 at Fenway Park as part of Frozen Fenway in early January.

From The Vault
Ryan Cloonan and Ivan Chukarov go after a puck along the
wall in the first period of Frozen Fenway earlier this year.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU has won the last seven games in this series and you have to go back four years to find the last UMass win. That was February 1st, 2013 at the Mullins Center, a 5-1 Minutemen victory. UMass’ last win at The Greek was February 10th, 2012, with a 3-2 score.

Currently, the Minutemen are 5-20-2 under the command of first year head coach Greg Carvel. They are last in the league standings with just five points, and haven’t won a game since December 30th, the opening round of the Marriucci Classic in Minnesota vs Alabama Huntsville, a 2-1 overtime win.

UMass played the Terriers tough at Fenway. They fought to the end, scoring an extra-attacker goal in the final minute, but came up short. BU controlled most of the play in that game and was leading 3-0 before UMass stormed back to make it a one goal game. Chad Krys and Gabe Chabot scored two goals in 40 seconds with less than five minutes to play to snuff out any chance of a Minutemen comeback.

Scouting the Minutemen
Senior Steven Iacobellis is the offensive leader for UMass, coming in with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points on the year. Second is Austin Plevy, a sophomore from Langley, BC, who has posted 14 points by way of five goals and nine assists. Other Players to watch include Ray Pigozzi, Ivan Chukarov and William Lagesson.

In goal, Ryan Wischow has played the majority of the time between the pipes. In 21 appearances, the freshman has a 4-14-2 record to go along with a .901 save percentage and a 3.05 goals against average. Wischow allowed five goals on 25 shots against BU at Fenway earlier this year. Sophomore Nic Renyard has seen time in nine games with a 1-6-0 record. In that time, he has recorded an .880 sv% and a 4.01 GAA.

BU Notes
The Daily Free Press is reporting that Jake Oettinger will be in net for BU. In addition, Nik Olsson will be out “long term.” He had surgery on his right leg to repair a broken bone. There is currently no timetable for his return.

I will not be there tonight, as I have my own hockey commitment. I know you are all devastated.