From The Daily Collegian
By Hadley Smith
The No. 5 Massachusetts men’s club hockey team decisively beat Holy Cross 9-2 on Monday night. The Minutemen (11-3) gained an early lead against No. 20 Holy Cross (4-2-2) thanks to a hat trick from Mathew Carrara.
“We started playing more like a team again,” head coach Skip Welch said. “They’re coming together as a team. The boys are really tight and so it’s just a matter of everybody buying into our brand of hockey.”
The game started off strong, with the Minutemen taking control of the puck and keeping it in the offensive zone throughout most of the first period. With 14 shots to the Crusaders’ six, the Minutemen emerged dominant, firing round after round before finally finding the back of the net.
At 5:57, Carrara finally found the back of the net. Coming off a strong save by the Holy Cross goaltender, he quickly jumped onto the rebound, firing it in before the goalie could react.
But the Minutemen kept the pressure up throughout the period, and so did Carrara. He flew past the Holy Cross defense until he was one-on-one with the goaltender. Faking out his opponent, he forced the netminder to dive to his left before gracefully pushing it in on the other side of the net to give UMass its second goal of the night. As one of the team’s highest scorers, Carrara added two more goals to get his 13th and 14th of the season.
The end of the period saw a little more heat from the Crusaders, as they were finally able to get some shots on goal, giving goaltender Sam York a challenge.
The second period was no different, with five different Minutemen getting their names on the board. Captain Michael Dunning scored the third goal of the game only 30 seconds into the period, extending UMass’s lead early on. A few minutes later, Zack Baker found the back of the net to earn the Minutemen their fourth goal of the night.
Both teams continued to fire rapidly at the net, with three other Minutemen getting their name on the board and Holy Cross finally getting its first goal of the game.
Zachary Sideropoulos found the back of the net just over 10 minutes into the period and was quickly followed two minutes later by Ethan Porter, to put the Minutemen up by six.
However, the Crusaders finally got their opportunity to respond, doing so in rapid succession. At 15:17, Holy Cross’s Matt Millotte scored off a strong rebound from his teammate Sean Baker. Hitting the goalie’s pad, the puck bounced off to the right, and Millotte quickly fired it home before the UMass goaltender could react. The second goal came shortly afterwards at 19:25 from a tip-in by Jackie Murphy.
The third period saw the Minutemen on the attack once again. Ending the game with 39 shots on goal for UMass and only 14 for the Crusaders, the third period in particular was when the Minutemen came out firing. At 6:12, the Minutemen got their seventh goal of the night from Brendan Tourgee.
Then, at 13:25, Carrara scored the eighth goal of the night to complete his hat trick. With his two additional assists, Carrara had a 5-point night.
“He’s an offensive threat every single game, not just tonight, but every time he’s on the ice and his two linemates, they’re always a threat every time they step on the ice,” Welch said.
The ninth and final goal was scored by Michael Hussey with only one minute left in the game. The goal was scored from a tip-in on an assist from Carrara.
The UMass offense was the star of the show as the Minutemen moved smoothly with consistent passing and firing shot after shot. The shots to goals ratio was also incredibly slim with nine goals produced from 39 shots, highlighting their relentless pressure and their efficiency in the offensive zone.
“We’ve got a lot of talent, so it’s really just a matter of bringing them together and everybody playing and under one umbrella,” Welch said.
UMass will take on Northeastern on Friday, Nov. 21 with puck drop set for 3 p.m.
(Originally published at https://dailycollegian.com/2025/11/mathew-carraras-hat-trick-leads-umass-mens-club-hockey-to-win-over-holy-cross/#)
