Junior center Matt Anderson played a role in all the Massachusetts scoring with two goals and two assists and freshman Jon Quick, making his first collegiate start, posted 27 saves to lead the Minutemen to a 4-2 victory over Clarkson at Cheel Arena Saturday night.
Early penalty trouble led to a slow start for the Golden Knights (2-2-0), who took three straight minor penalties in the opening five minutes. UMass (1-1-0) took advantage of Clarkson’s infractions and tallied with the man-advantage at 4:17 as Anderson connected for his first goal of the season.
Clarkson had its opportunities to tie with three straight power plays of their own midway through the period, but could not convert.
The Minutemen took advantage of 21 minutes Golden Knights penalties in the second frame by scoring on two of their three power-play opportunities. Senior defenseman Matt Degon scored at 3:33 for his first goal of the year and then connected again less than ten minutes later.
Anderson made it 4-0 at 2:47 of the third period. Clarkson made it close on the scoreboard with two goals in the final 10 minutes for the final 4-2 outcome. Freshman defenseman Philippe Paquet scored on a shot from just inside the blueline at 9:58 for his first career goal and sophomore Nick Dodge knocked in a rebound with 10 seconds left in the contest.
UMass enjoyed a strong night on specialty teams, going 3-of-8 with the advantage, while killing off all six of Clarkson’s extra man chances.
Clarkson will look to work out its kinks next week with a pair of exhibition games against Western Ontario and the U.S. Under-18 Team. Meanwhile, Massachusetts will host nonconference foe Holy Cross before embarking on league play in two weeks.
