SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts The American International College ice hockey team dropped a nonconference contest to the No. 2 University of Massachusetts 6-1 on Saturday, January 5.

FAST FACTS:
SCORE:No. 2 Massachusetts 6, AIC 1.
RECORDS:AIC falls to 8-9-1 overall, with an 8-5-1 record in the Atlantic Hockey Conference; Massachusetts improves to 15-3-0, with a 7-1-0 Hockey East Association record.
LOCATION:MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts

STATS:
AIC:
Shawn McBride: One goal
Patrik Demel: One assist
Blake Christensen: One assist
Zackarias Skog: Loss (5-6-0), 33 saves

Massachusetts:
Marc Del Gaizo: One goal, three assists
John Leonard: One goal, one assist
Jacob Pritchard: One goal, one assist
Mitchell Chaffee: One goal, one assist
Phillip Lagunov: Two assists
Matt Murray: Win (12-1-0), 20 saves in 59:47



HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Minutemen struck first just as a power play expired when George Mika backhanded a shot into the net for his first of the year at 5:51 of the first period.
• Later in the frame, Anthony Del Gaizo potted his fourth of the season, striking for what would end up as the winning goal at 13:29.
• Mitchell Chaffee, the scoring leader in Hockey East, added to his total, netting his 12th of the year at 5:54 of the second to bring the Minutemen lead to 3-0.
• AIC broke the shutout midway through the period, as junior left wing Blake Christensen took a hit in the slot to make a pass back to the point, where junior defenseman Patrik Demel's one-timer deflected off of the shinpad of senior center Shawn McBridge and into the net at 11:01 for the captain's third goal of the year.
• Late in the period, the Minutemen would reestablish their three-goal edge as Marc Del Gaizo stuffed home a rebound on a power play at 19:21.
• In the third, Jacob Pritchard and John Leonard each scored to bring the game to a 6-1 final.

BUZZWORTHY:

• The official attendance for the contest was 3,024, the highest home attendance in the program's history.
• Skog's 33 saves tie his season best, set at RIT on November 10.
• The special teams defense has allowed one or fewer goals in each of the last 11 games and 16 of 18 games this season.

NEXT UP:

• AIC will make the first of two straight Tuesday trips to Webster Bank Arena to take on the Sacred Heart University Pioneers on January 8 at 7:05 p.m. in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
  

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow@AIC_HockeyonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAmerican International College Ice HockeyonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.