UMass-Amherst began the season with a 3-2 exhibition loss to St. Francis Xavier on Friday night.
St. Francis Xavier opened the scoring with two first-period goals, just over two minutes apart. Todd Norman lit the lamp first at the 9:58 mark of the opening 20 minutes and teammate Mike Smith added a goal at the 12:30 mark for a 2-0 lead.
After a shaky first, the Minutemen came out strong in the second period, narrowing the lead to 2-1 on freshman Stephen Werner’s power-play goal. Werner won a battle for a loose puck in front of the net and poked it into the net. The goal was assisted by Thomas Pöck and Tim Turner.
St. Francis Xavier led 3-1 when freshman forward Michael Mullen let loose a slapshot just inside the blue line that beat goalie David Haun top-shelf to narrow the margin to 3-2. The goal was assisted by freshman Peter Alden and sophomore Dustin Demianiuk.
However, the Minutemen could not score the equalizer after pulling goalie Gabe Winer with just over a minute to play.
The Minutemen will open the regular season against Boston College on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 5:00 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
