Costly penalties led the Union men's hockey team to a 2-1 loss against UMass on Sunday evening at Achilles Center.

The Dutchmen came out strong in hopes of avenging their 5-4 loss to the Minutemen in October. Ryan Scarfo put Union (10-8-1) on the board first, scoring on a power play fairly early into the first period. The goal was assisted by J.C. Brassard and Cole Maier.

Two penalties less than a minute later would open the door for Massachusetts' Oliver Chau to score during a five-on-three advantage.

Mario Ferraro fired a shot off the pad of Union goalie Jake Kupsky, but the rebound went straight to the stick of Chau for an easy back-door power-play goal.

Both teams were evenly matched for most of the second period, until another penalty for the Dutchmen gave UMass (9-7-0) the chance to score its second goal on another power play. After Brett Supinski was called for slashing, the Minutemen's Jake Gaudet scored his second goal of the season off a rebounded shot.

Union turned up the pressure on UMass in the third period, outshooting the Minutemen 12-6, but the Dutchmen were unable to find the equalizer.

More Information

UMASS 2, UNION 1

UMass 1 1 0 — 2

Union 1 0 0 — 1

First Period—1, Union, Scarfo 10, (Brassard, Maier), 7:56, (pp); 2. UMass, Chau 7, (Ferraro, Chaffee), 9:58, (pp). Penalties—Makar, UMass, (interference), :44; Chukarov, UMass, (interference), 6:16; Walker, Uni, (boarding), 8:18; Vidmar, Uni, (holding), 8:49.

Second Period—3, UMass, Gaudet 2, (Chaffee, Ferraro), 12:27, (pp). Penalties—Supinski, Uni, (slashing), 10:35; Brassard, Uni, (interference), 16:22; Mika, UMass, (interference), 19:01;

Third Period—No scoring. Penalties—Leonard, UMass, (holding), 6:31; Horton, UMass, (hooking), 10:12.

Shots on goal—UMass 17-9-6-32; Union 13-7-12-32.

Power play opportunities—UMass 2 for 4, Union 1 for 5.

Goalies—UMass, Wischow 6-2-0 (32 shots-31 saves); Union, Kupsky 3-7-1 (32 shots-30 saves).

A—1,712, T—2:15.

Despite the loss, Kupsky had 30 saves, including nine while short-handed.

Ryan Wischow had 31 saves for the Minutemen.

"Those (penalties) killed us, it gave them life and they got a 5-on-3 and capitalized on it and we didn't capitalize on our penalty kill," Scarfo said. "It gave them the momentum and they started to run with it."

Union is off until the final weekend of December with a pair of games against Nebraska-Omaha at Baxter Arena on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30. Both games start at 8 p.m.