Men's Hockey Hosts St. Francis Xavier for Exhibition Game on Sunday (4 p.m.)

Sunday, October 4

Durham, N.H.

4:00 PM

University of New Hampshire

St. Francis Xavier University

Tickets

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Men's Hockey Hosts St. Francis Xavier for Exhibition Game on Sunday (4 p.m.)

10/2/2015 3:32:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team is set to begin the 2015-16 season as they host St. Francis Xavier University for an exhibition contest on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. Links to live stats, video, audio and tickets are available at www.UNHWildcats.com.

Goaltenders:
   The Wildcats return a trio of goaltenders for the 2015-16 season; senior Jamie Regan, and sophomores Danny Tirone and Adam Clark. Regan has appeared in three games through his career, tallying 22 minutes, 58 seconds between the pipes. He has a save percentage of .600 and a goals against average of 5.22. Tirone joined the team after the winter break in 2014-15 and went on to play in 20 games. He posted a record of 14-6-0 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.14 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Clark started 20 of 21 games played and recorded a 5-13-2 record with a 2.93 goals against average and a .894 save percentage.

Defense:
   Returning to man the blueline for UNH are senior Harry Quast, juniors Matias Cleland and Dylan Maller as well as sophomores Richard Boyd, Dylan Chanter, John Furgele and Cameron Marks. Quast recorded his first career goal in 2014-15 and tallied seven assists to go along for eight points. Cleland led the defensive core in scoring last season as he posted 18 points from six goals and 12 assists. He played in 39 of 40 games. Maller made appearances in 22 games during the season, missing time due to injury. He dished out a pair of assists. Boyd played a total of 24 games during his freshman campaign and tallied three helpers. Chanter saw action in eight games on the year. Both of his points were assists and came in the same game. Furgele missed four games due to injury, but battled back and played in a total of 36. He netted a pair of goals and eight assists. Marks was one of four players to see the ice in every game and was the only defenseman to do so. The rookie registered one goal to go along with 10 assists for 11 points.
   One new face joins the D in Matt Dawson. Dawson came to UNH via Green Bay of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He played in 57 games during the 2014-15 season and tallied 13 points on five goals and eight assists. The year before, he played the 2013-14 season with the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League. He played in 56 games and produced 34 points on six goals and 28 assists and was named the team's Defenseman of the Year.

Forwards:
   Coming back on offense for the 'Cats are seniors Collin MacDonald, Dan Correale, Maxim Gaudreault and Kyle Smith. Three juniors come back in Collin Bourque, Jamie Hill and Tyler Kelleher. Five sophomores are also returning; Shane Eiserman, Warren Foegele, Michael McNicholas, Andrew Poturalski and Jason Salvaggio. MacDonald, who will serve as captain this season, played in 20 games as a junior and recorded three goals along with four assists for seven points. Correale, one of two alternate captains, played in 38 games. He racked up 17 points on four goals and 13 assists. Gaudreault will serve as the other alternate captain. He played in 30 games and tallied six points on three goals and three assists. Smith saw action in 33 games and registered nine points on three goals and six assists.
   Bourque saw time in five games and fired a pair of shots last season. Hill appeared in a career high 21 games and recorded his first collegiate points last season. He notched a pair of goals and a helper. Kelleher exploded in is sophomore year as he led the team in points (42) and assists (24). He tallied 18 goals as well. Eiserman played in 35 games as a rookie and notched 15 points on four goals and 11 assists. Foegele played in 34 games, racking up 16 points on five goals and 11 assists. McNicholas registered three points on three assists as he appeared in 14 games. Potrualski led the rookie class in scoring with 29 points on 14 goals and 15 assists. He was fourth in Hockey East in freshman scoring. Salvaggio hit the ice in 18 games and tallied a pair of assists.
   Five freshmen will hit the ice for the Wildcats in 2015-16; Frankie Cefalu, Jason Kalinowski, Chris Miller, Ara Nazarian, and Marcus Vela. Cefalu most recently played with the Walpole Express of the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). He tallied 70 points in 2014-15 on 21 goals and 49 assists while racking up 56 points the year before on 10 goals and 46 assists. Kalinowski played 45 games with the Bloomington Thunder (USHL) and five games with Cedar Rapids in 2014-15. With the Thunder, he lit the lamp twice and dished out nine assists. In 2013-14, Kalinowski played 57 games with Cedar Rapids and notched 31 points on eight goals and 23 assists.
   Miller spent the last two years as a member of the Boston Jr. Bruins of the (USPHL). He saw the ice in 36 games and registered nine goals with 14 assists for 23 points. The previous season, he accrued 15 points on five goals and 10 assists. Nazarian played the 2014-15 season with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL. He skated in 60 games and recorded 28 points on 12 goals and 16 assists. He had previously played at Malden Catholic High School and graduated in 2015. He helped the Lancers to three consecutive state titles during his time there. Vela rounds out the forwards as he comes in from Langley of the BCHL. At the National Hockey League Draft in 2015, Vela was selected in the seventh round and 190th overall by the San Jose Sharks. In 2014-15, he slated in 50 games with the Rivermen and notched 20 goals and 26 assists.

Let's Play Some Hockey! The Wildcats are back on the ice for their first contest, an exhibition game, on Sunday, Oct. 4 against St. Francis Xavier. UNH opens up the regular season at home against AIC on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.

Opening at Home: Saturday's season opener against AIC will be the first season opener at home since the Wildcats hosted St. Cloud State in 2012-13. UNH opened up the season with four games at home and won each of them.

C is for Captain, and Collin: Senior forward Collin MacDonald was elected to serve as captain for the 2015-16 season by his teammates. Serving as alternate captains are seniors Dan Correale and Maxim Gaudreault.

I'm Coming Home, Coming Home: First year associate head coach Mike Souza ('00) returns to his alma mater after two years at the University of Connecticut and two years at Brown University.

Wildcats Through and Through: Head coach Dick Umile ('72) and associate head coaches Glenn Stewart ('94) and Mike Souza ('00) are all graduates and former players of UNH. Assistant AD for Hockey Operations Colin Shank ('05) is also a graduate of UNH.

Three Coaches, 402 Points: Umile, Stewart and Souza are each members of the Century Club for the men's hockey program. Souza tallied 156 points (66g, 90a), Umile 144 points (60g, 84a) and Stewart notched 102 points (51g, 51a).

The One and Only Q: Senior defenseman Harry Quast is the only player in program history to have a last name that begins with the letter 'Q'.

Hailing from the Granite State: Junior forward Collin Bourque and freshman forward Chris Miller each hail from New Hampshire. Bourque's hometown is Goffstown while Miller is from Windham.

Road Warriors: The men's hockey team will travel a total of 4,705.40 miles this season for road games. The biggest journey is 828 miles one way to Michigan State. The shortest trip is 34.4 miles to the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Hoist the Cup! Former men's hockey player Trevor van Riemsdyk ('14) became the sixth Wildcat in program history to win the Stanley Cup, the NHL's top honor. Here is the list of UNH Stanley Cup winners:
Trevor van Riemsdyk   2015     Chicago Blackhawks
Bryan Muir   2001     Colorado Avalanche
Kevin Dean   1995       New Jersey Devils
Normand Lacombe   1988       Edmonton Oilers
Dave Lumley   1985       Edmonton Oilers
Dave Lumley   1984     Edmonton Oilers
Rod Langway   1979       Montreal Canadiens

Do you know the way to San Jose? Freshman forward Marcus Vela was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the 2015 NHL Draft as the 190th overall pick. He is just the second player in UNH history to be drafted by the Sharks. Michael Hutchins was taken by San Jose in the 2002 draft.

Welcome to Wildcat Country: Six freshmen joined the program in the off-season; Frankie Cefalu (Buffalo, N.Y.), Matt Dawson (Delta, British Columbia), Jason Kalinowski (Stamford, Conn.), Chris Miller (Windham, N.H.), Ara Nazarian (Boxford, Mass.) and Marcus Vela (Burnaby, British Columbia).

Wildcats Picked Sixth in Hockey East Preseason Coaches Poll: New Hampshire was picked sixth in the 2015-16 Hockey East Preseason Coaches Poll, announced by the league in September. Here are the full results:
Rk.    Team (FPV)       Points
1.    Boston College (7)       115
2.    Boston University (3)   107
3.    Providence (2)       95
4.   UMass Lowell       92
5.   Northeastern       76
6.   New Hampshire       74
7.   Notre Dame       72
8.   Vermont       57
9.   Connecticut       34
10.   Maine       29
11.   Merrimack       27
12.   Massachusetts       14