AMHERST, Mass. – The LIU men's ice hockey team took on defending national champions and #10 nationally-ranked University of Massachusetts on the road Friday night, falling to the Minutemen, 6-3.
 
SHARK BITES

• UMass scored two goals midway through the first period to jump out to a 2-0 lead.
• Jordan Timmons would score the first goal for the Sharks near the end of the first period, off passes from John Gormley and Carson Musser to cut the deficit to 2-1. But the Minutemen answered 40 seconds later to lead 3-1 after the first.
• The Sharks would cut the deficit again midway through the second period, when sophomore Jack Quinn scored off a pass from Spencer Cox to make it 3-2.
• UMass would score on a power play goal near the end of the period, widening the lead to 4-2 after two.
• Early in the third, sophomore Preston Brodziak scored off a pass from Quinn to bring LIU back within one, 4-3.
• The Minutemen added a fifth goal ten minutes later, and scored their sixth int the final seconds on an empty net, to take the 6-3 win.
• Goalie Vincent Purpura made 28 saves for the Sharks.
• Up next, LIU faces off against UMass in the second of the two game series, Saturday, February 5 at 7 p.m.