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University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
University of Massachusetts
Wildcats Take on Massachusetts at Home on Friday (7 PM)
11/16/2016 11:15:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Friday, November 18 vs. University of Massachusetts (3-5-1, 1-3-1 HEA) - 7 PM
Whittemore Center Arena
Purchase Tickets | Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
Live Broadcast:
Friday, November 18 - 7:00 PM (6:30 PM Pregame Show)
Mike Murphy (Play-by-Play), Pete Webster (Color)
Flagship Radio Stations:
WGIR 610 AM (Manchester); WQSO 96.7 FM (Seacoast), WPKX 930 AM (Seacoast)
Affiliates:
???????WZEI 101.5 FM (Concord), WTPL 107.7 FM (Hillsborough), WZEI
93.5 AM (Keene), WTSV 1230 AM (Claremont), WTSL 94.5 FM/1400 AM (Hanover)
WHAT TO KNOW
• The Wildcats are coming off a 0-1-1 weekend with an OT loss to ASU, 5-4, and a 3-3 draw against HE foe Merrimack College.
• Junior forward Michael McNicholas notched four points on the weekend with three goals and an assist. In Sunday's rally, he scored a career high two goals.
• Senior forward Tyler Kelleher also had a four point weekend from one goal and three assists.
• Against Merrimack, junior Jason Salvaggio scored the game-tying goal with 48 seconds left in regulation as UNH had pulled Danny Tirone for the extra attacker.
• New Hampshire and Massachusetts sparred once already this season with the Wildcats being victorious, 4-1 on the road. The Wildcats went ahead 1-0 at the 16:04 mark on a goal by McNicholas, taking that lead into the second period. Freshman Liam Blackburn scored his first collegiate goal at 2:59 of the second period to pad UNH's lead to 2-0. Shane Bear scored for UMass at 13:54 of the second, but third period goals by senior Dylan Maller and junior Shane Eiserman sealed the deal for UNH. Tirone made 26 saves in net.
• UNH holds a 86-21-11 advantage in the all-time series and are 2-1-2 in the last five games against the Minutemen. Head coach Dick Umile holds a 47-13-10 mark in his career against UMass.
• At the Whittemore Center, UNH is 25-3-5 against Massachusetts.
• The Wildcats remain at home for their next game on Tuesday, Nov. 22 against RPI. The team travels to Madison Square Garden after that for a game against Cornell on Saturday, Nov. 26.
Power Play Efficiency: The Wildcats have recorded a power play goal in all but two games this season (Bentley - 10/8, CC - 10/22). The 'Cats have scored 16 power play goals while limiting opponents to just nine.
Rookie of the Month: Freshman forward Patrick Grasso was named the HCA National Rookie of the Month as well as the HE Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month on Wednesday, Nov. 2. He is the first 'Cat to earn the accolade since Grayson Downing in November of 2011. Grasso was also named the HE Rookie of the Week on Monday, Oct. 31.
Four-on-Four: Patrick Grasso scored four times on four shots against Merrimack in the 6-2 win on Saturday, Oct. 29. He was the first Wildcat to score four goals in a game since Steve Moses in 2012. He netted three goals in the first period in the span of 3:56.
Grasso's National Ranking (Updated 11/15):
Among Freshmen All Players Totals
Goals 1st T-4th 9 goals
Points 2nd T-9th 16 points
Power Play Goals 1st 1st 6 goals
Power Play Points 1st 1st 11 points
Hat Tricks T-1st T-3rd 1 hat tricks
Number 90: The 2016-17 season is the 90th year of men's hockey at UNH. The program has a record of 1,211-907-145 over the nine decades.
Weekend Warrior: Senior forward Tyler Kelleher was named the Warrior Hockey Player of the Week by the Hockey East Association on Monday, Oct. 17 for his weekend performance against St. Lawrence and Clarkson. He had a goal against SLU (Oct. 14) and two goals with two assists against Clarkson (Oct. 15).
Maller's Milestone: Senior defenseman Dylan Maller scored his first collegiate goal against Clarkson on Saturday, Oct. 15.
Heading to the Big Apple: The Wildcats will travel to Madison Square Garden to play in New York City for the first time in program history. They will play Cornell on Nov. 26 at 8:00 PM.
Frozen Fenway: For the first time since Jan. 7, 2012, UNH will play an outdoor game when they take on Northeastern at Fenway Park on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 PM.
350 and Counting: Head coach Dick Umile recorded his 350th Hockey East win in the 6-2 triumph over Merrimack (Oct. 29). His league record is 350-189-89. He has the most wins among active HE coaches and is second all-time to Jack Parker (BU; 421).
Longevity: Umile is the third longest tenured coach at their current institution as he is entering his 27th season with the 'Cats. Red Berenson (Michigan) is going into his 33rd season while Rick Gotkin (Mercyhurst) is going into his 29th season.
'C' is for Captain, and Cleland: Senior blueliner Matias Cleland was elected captain by his teammates and is the first Wildcat to be a lone captain with no assistants since James Richmond in 1986-87.
Wildcat Blue Genes: The incoming freshman class has many NHL ties. Brendan van Riemsdyk is the youngest brother of James van Riemsdyk ('09) and Trevor van Riemsdyk ('14), both of whom play in the NHL. Joe Sacco is the son of Boston Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco, who played 738 games in the NHL. Patrick Grasso is the nephew of Joe Mullen, who won three Stanley Cups. He is currently an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Welcome to Wildcat Country: UNH added eight freshmen in the off-season: Liam Blackburn (F), Justin Fregona (F), Patrick Grasso (F), Joe Lazzaro (G), Nick Nonis (D), Joe Sacco (F), Brendan van Riemsdyk (F), and Anthony Wyse (D).
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).
Where Kelleher Ranks in his Career Nationally (Updated 11/15):
Points:
1. Mike Vecchione - Union College - 139
2. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 121
3. Max French - Bentley University - 114
Ryan Fitzgerald - Boston College - 114
Justin Kloos - Minnesota - 113
Assists:
1. Mike Vecchione - Union College - 82
2. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 81
3. David Goodwin - Penn State - 67
4. Justin Kloos - Minnesota - 66
5. Gavin Bayreuther - St. Lawrence - 64
Justin Danforth - Sacred Heart - 64
Points Per Game (Min. 100 games)
1. Mike Vecchione - Union College - 1.12 (124 games played)
2. Max French - Bentley University - 1.06 (109 games played)
3. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 0.98 (124 games played)
4. Justin Kloos - Minnesota - 0.90 (125 games played)
Austin Ortega - Omaha - 0.90 (119 games played)
Points for Patrick: Freshman Patrick Grasso scored four goals in Saturday's (Oct. 29) 6-2 win over Merrimack College. He was the first player to score four times in a game since Steve Moses did so on Jan. 14, 2012 against Dartmouth. It was also the last time a player scored four-consecutive goals.
Wildcats Drafted by NHL Teams: Junior Shane Eiserman and sophomore Marcus Vela have both been drafted by NHL organizations. Eiserman was taken by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round of the 2014 draft as the 100th overall pick. Vela was picked in the seventh round of the 2015 draft as the 190th pick.
Granite State Connection: Three Wildcats hail from the Granite State; Chris Miller of Windham, Nick Nonis of Hampton Falls and Joe Lazzaro of Hampstead.
