AMHERST – Over the last few seasons, the UMass and American International College hockey teams have faced off early in the season, with the Yellow Jackets serving as a barometer of sorts for the Minutemen. UMass head coach Greg Carvel spoke highly of AIC earlier in the week, calling it a well-coached team that can expose any flaws you show them. 

Good news for UMass, then, that they seemed to handle the Yellow Jackets handily in their first contest of the 2023-24 season. UMass skated to a 5-3 victory against AIC on Saturday night at the Mullins Center, jumping out to a 4-1 lead and staving off a late comeback effort from the Yellow Jackets.

Senior goalie Cole Brady had an inspired night in net, stopping 36 shots for the Minutemen after mostly serving as the team’s backup last season. 

“To me, he's a different person. We've helped him and he's earned a lot of confidence and I thought he was outstanding,” Carvel said of Brady. “He gave up three goals, but I thought he made a lot of big saves, especially the second half of the game.”

Saturday’s game had a little bit of everything. The Minutemen’s penalty kill was perfect, shutting down all five of AIC’s power play opportunities, and the power play got a goal of its own from Jack Musa, his first career collegiate goal. Five different players scored for the Minutemen, with both Musa and graduate transfer Samuli Niinisaari collecting their first UMass goals. 

But with all the highlights that the Minutemen had, there was still room for improvement. AIC scored two goals about four minutes apart late in the third to make it a 4-3 game with 3:55 left. Defensive breakdowns and small mistakes popped up, especially in the third period, something the Minutemen will need to address before powerhouse Michigan rolls into town next weekend. 

“I really liked our compete, at times in that second period I thought we were starting to take the game over and when it got to 4-1, it should have been in our hands. But some mistakes, penalties, some young new players to our team,” Carvel said. “What I'll take away is that we steadied the ship and and found a way to close it out. I’m not so sure that that was happening for us last year.”

It looked like UMass (1-0) might run away with the game early on. Elliot McDermott sent a beautiful stretch pass off the boards and right to the stick of Taylor Makar, who went on a two-on-one with Ryan Lautenbach. Makar set him up with a picture-perfect pass that Lautenbach buried into an open net to kick off the scoring midway through the opening frame. 

UMass doubled its lead when Scott Morrow let loose a shot from the point that AIC goalie Nils Walstrom got most of, but the puck found its way through him just next to the goal line. Niinisaari flew to the front of the net to poke it past Walstrom and make it 2-0 with a minute and six seconds left in the opening frame. 

AIC didn’t go away quietly, cutting the deficit to one early on in the second when Brian Kramer got the Yellow Jackets on the board five minutes into the second period. Musa put UMass up 3-1 on a power play goal assisted from Lucas Mercuri and Ryan Ufko. 

Late penalties in the second and third gave AIC opportunities to get back within reach, but it wasn’t until later in the third period that the visitors were able to beat Brady. With the net empty and the Yellow Jackets buzzing in the offensive zone, Ufko managed to snag the puck and send it the length of the ice to score the Minutemen’s fifth goal of the game and put the opener firmly out of reach.

“Means a lot (to get the win.) They're always a good team. The past two years I played them, it's always been a good game,” Lautenbach said. “It's a good first game for us, there's a lot to learn from it and just happy to get the win.”

The Minutemen will play Dartmouth in an exhibition game on Sunday and then turn their attention to Michigan. UMass will host the Wolverines on Friday at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday at 7 p.m. 

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.