NORTH ANDOVER — Winning a conference championship was never going to be easy for UMass.
With a chance to secure their first Hockey East title on Thursday, the Minutemen trailed after the third period. But if there was proof that this year’s team was different than the UMass squads of years past, it was evident in that third period.
Bobby Trivigno tied the game with a fantastic individual effort less than four minutes into the third, then Jake Gaudet scored 18 seconds later to take the lead. Gaudet took a slashing penalty with three minutes left, but Cale Makar sealed the championship with a short-handed, empty-net goal and UMass won its first-ever Hockey East title with a 4-2 victory over Merrimack.
“For what this program has been through over the years, it’s a pretty special accomplishment,” Makar said. “Obviously something we knew we were capable of the whole year, but it’s special for us but it’s just stepping stone.”
Makar put the Minutemen (25-7-0, 17-5-0 Hockey East) on the board early with his first power play goal of the season just 3 minutes, 46 seconds into the game. Jacob Pritchard initially sent the pass to Mitchell Chaffee in front of the goal, but the sophomore didn’t get enough stick on it and the puck bounced to Makar, who slammed it into the empty net.
Merrimack (7-23-3, 4-17-2) responded strong in the second, sneaking behind Marc Del Gaizo to create an odd-man rush that Derek Petti finished with ease 27 seconds into the period. The game became even chipper with the score tied and nine penalties were assessed over the next 13 minutes — including Petti being ejected for a hit to the head. After the mess of penalties cleared with neither team scoring, the Warriors took the lead with 1:23 left as Ryan Cook pounced on a rebound off Matt Murray’s pad.