No. 1 UMass salvages split

Rallies with 3 in 3rd period

AMHERST — For UMass, its first-ever No. 1 ranking in the national college hockey poll might not last a week after falling to Quinnipiac on Friday night. But the Minutemen can take solace in getting some retribution against the eighth-ranked Bobcats just 24 hours later. On the verge of a second straight loss to Quinnipiac, UMass scored three times in the third period to come from behind and earn a 3-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,412 last nigh at the Mullins Center. “I thought we were the stronger team for 60 minutes and deserved to win,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “That’s great college hockey, and it’s great to see it in this building. It doesn’t get any better than this. You beat a really good team at home in front of a full house. I’m just real happy for my kids. They deserve all the good things that are happening to them.” UMass (13-2), which had been bottled up and held scoreless by Quinnipiac (14-3) for five straight periods, came to life in the final frame facing a 1-0 deficit. Defenseman Ivan Chukarov’s wrister in front of a screened Keith Petruzzelli (37 saves) resulted in his first goal of the season and leveled the score, 1-1, with 14:33 left. The tally gave the Minutemen a much-needed jumpstart. Just more than three minutes later, an aggressive forecheck resulted in a Quinnipiac turnover as Philip Lagunov found Jacob Pritchard in front, who showed tremendous poise before flipping in a backhanded shot for the decisive goal. Matt Murray (27 saves) then came through with timely stops down the stretch, and Bobby Trivigno scored an empty-netter to secure the win. “We just don’t quit,” Chukarov said. “Even if weren’t not scoring, we’re still battling. We’re still trying to get those pucks to the net. That was a character win.” Quinnipiac’s defense stymied the Minutemen offense, which came into the weekend series with the second-best scoring average in the nation, through two periods and jumped in front on a powerplay goal from Chase Priskie at 8:24 of the second frame. UMass, which was hampered by six penalties and an 0-for-4 showing on the power play, still generated plenty of chances through the first two periods, and the persistence ultimately paid off. “The mental toughness and the tenacity of the team to keep grinding and eventually score a couple goals (was good to see),” Carvel said.