Amherst, MA – CMCC Men's Hockey closed out its first semester with a 1-0 win on the road against UMass-Amherst. Goaltender Isaac White made 39 saves to pick up the shutout victory in his second start of the campaign, and Alex Alonso scored the game winner midway through the third period for his first of the season.
"That was a very tough game for us," said head coach Jordy Knoren. "Isaac looked very good in practice, so we made the decision to go with him and he played absolutely phenomenal with the shutout. That's something we've been looking for all year. I wouldn't say we stole the game but putting up the zero on the board gave us the chance to win that hockey game."
It was a rematch of the team's meeting in Auburn on November 15th when the Mustangs won a wild 6-5 game on an Aaron Higgins goal with 24 seconds remaining. This time around, the scoring was much harder to come by. White kept everything out for the Mustangs while on the other end Michael Gilerman finished with 37 saves.
The game stayed scoreless into the third period before Alonso broke the deadlock. With ten minutes remaining in regulation time, the first-year defender picked up the puck in his own zone and carried down the left wing boards. Alonso cut across the high slot before shooting a wrist shot back against the grain, just over the right pad to make it 1-0. It was the first career goal for Alex who is the younger brother of captain Diego Alonso.
From there, CMCC survived a couple of good chances. White made a fantastic glove save to rob Evan Phaneuf with about six minutes left. The penalty kill unit saw things out after the Minutemen went on the power play in the final minute, making a couple big blocks and clears to preserve the victory.
"I think we've found our identity," said Knoren, looking back at the first semester. "Last year we were a high scoring team as well, but we put some teams away a little earlier. This year, we've faced some adversity going into third periods, but if you look at a lot of those games, we've been able to pull them out and even our losses have mostly been by one or two goals. I think you always ask for a chance to win in the end and 15 wins after one semester is a pretty good start."
The win moves Central Maine to 15-5 overall heading into the second semester with an 8-2 record against NECHA teams. The Mustangs return to the ice on Tuesday, January 21st with a visit across the bridge to face rivals Bates College. The team's next home game is on January 26th against Dartmouth.
