Dec. 6, 2002

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. - Chris Capraro's (Medford, Mass.) breakaway goal 4:19 into overtime lifted the Minutemen to a 5-4 win over No. 13-ranked Boston University at the Mullins Center. The win moves UMass' record to 9-5-0 overall and 4-4-0 in the Hockey East.

Capraro, a sophomore, used a turnover after Mike Warner (Waltham, Mass.) poked the puck loose from a BU defender who was attempting to carry the puck into the UMass zone. Capraro grabbed the puck at the Terriers' blue line and pushed home a shot under BU goalie Sean Fields' stick for his second goal of the year.

UMass spotted Boston U. a 2-0 lead midway through the first period, but Peter Trovato (North Attleboro, Mass.) narrowed the margin to 2-1 just 12 seconds after the Terriers' second goal. Trovato took a feed from James Solon (Acton, Mass.) and fired a wrister past Fields at the 10:52 mark. Jeff Lang (Westwood, Mass.) also assisted on the goal. However, BU added a goal four minutes later and killed off a 1:22 5-on-3 power play by the Minutemen to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

BU took a 4-1 lead on a power-play netter at the 5:40 mark of the second period, but UMass answered when Warner fired a wrister pass Shields' glove to narrow the margin. The score came at the 10:40 mark and was assisted by Tim Turner (Saginaw, Mich.) and Greg Mauldin (Holliston, Mass.). The score remained 4-2 heading into the third period, after several scoring opportunities were turned away by both goalies.

Greg Mauldin cut the lead to 4-3 with a rocket from just inside the blue line that beat Shields gloveside at the 7:22 mark of the third period. Seniors Kelly Sickavish (North Vancouver, B.C.) and Turner assisted the goal. Marvin Degon (Millbury, Mass.) then sent the season-high crowd of 3,891 into a frenzy with a power-play slapshot that just clanked in under the crossbar at the 9:47 mark to knot the game at 4-4. Mauldin recorded his second assist of the night and sixth of the season. The Minutemen had chances in the final five minutes to win the game, but Fields came up with two big to send the game into overtime.

In the extra session, the Terriers were the aggressor, firing four shots on UMass freshman goalie Gabe Winer (Stoughton, Mass.), including two from close range. Winer came up large stopping all four Terrier shots, before Capraro's heroics ended the game.

UMass took advantage of a 30-20 shot differential and converted on 2-of-5 power-play chances. BU was 1-for-3 with the extra man.

The two teams will face off again on Saturday, this time at BU's Walter Brown Arena. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports New England. UMass is aiming for its school-record fifth straight win.