UNH Freshmen Carfagna & Muszelik Earn Hockey East Honors

Damien Carfagna Hockey East Defender of the Week

Tyler Muszelik Hockey East Rookie of the Week

It's hard to imagine a better start to the 2022-23 season for the UNH Men's Hockey team. After a 6-hour bus ride to Potsdam in the "North Country" of upstate New York, the Wildcats overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third period of last Friday's game against Clarkson University, to win 4-3 in overtime. A quick trip to nearby Canton on Saturday lead to more success with a 4-1 victory over St. Lawrence University.

This season's team is relatively young with 8 freshmen and 9 sophomores. The 6 freshmen who saw action over the two games will, no doubt, remember the excitement and nerves. Freshmen forwards Cy LeClerc (1 goal, 1 assist) and Morgan Winters (1 goal) scored while Stiven Sardarian and Jake Dunlap played regular shifts. The outstanding play of two other UNH freshmen earned them weekly honors from Hockey East.

Damien Carfagna Named Hockey East Defender of the Week

Last weekend, all 11 Hockey East teams were in action for the first time this season. On Monday, the league announced the recipients of the weekly awards. 19-year-old UNH freshman Damien Carfagna was named "Defender of the Week". The 5'11", 168 lbs., left-shot defenseman from Wood Ridge, New Jersey, who was primarily paired with sophomore Colton Huard, blocked one shot and registered a +1 rating against Clarkson. On Saturday, Carfagna cranked up his offensive game firing 8 shots on goal against St. Lawrence and scoring his first NCAA goal. His overall rating for both games was +3.

Here's his goal, which put UNH comfortably ahead early in the third period:

Interview with Damien Carfagna

I had an opportunity to interview Damien Carfagna, via email, about his NCAA debut and the Hockey East weekly honor:

Mike Lowry: Congratulations on earning the Hockey East “Defender of the Week” award for your first NCAA games. Would you describe your experiences leading up to the your first shift, during the early stages of the game, during the final moments, and after the game?

Damien Carfagna: In the weeks leading up to the game everything was about learning the system here at UNH and getting comfortable playing with my teammates. Obviously I had some nerves before my first shift, but my teammates and the coaching staff did a great job making sure that I was comfortable with playing my game at this level. In the second game I was more confident. In the third period I was able to score on a shot from the blue line, so it was good to get my first one out of the way early.

Mike Lowry: How would you self-evaluate your performance?

Damien Carfagna: I feel like I had a very positive start to my college career this past weekend. This past weekend was a good starting point for me that I would like to build off of. Being awarded Hockey East Defender of the Week was something special for me, but I still feel like I have areas of my game that I can improve as I play more games and get more experience at this level.

Lowry: How does the overall level of skill and competition in your first collegiate game compare to what you encountered in the USHL?

Carfagna: The biggest difference that stood out to me was the strength of some of the players. In the USHL, you’re still playing against teenagers, but in college you’re often playing against grown men. Every moment of the game is also more competitive, as a shorter season at the college level allows for fewer mistakes to be made.

Lowry: How would you describe the team’s style of play and it’s strengths?

Carfagna: We have a very fast team, and we used it to our advantage in the opening weekend. We’re hard on our forecheck, and our conditioning and depth allows us to play a hard, fast game for an entire 60 minutes.

Tyler Muszelik Named Hockey East Rookie of the Week

UNH had two freshmen earn a Hockey East honor this week. 18-year-old Tyler Muszelik, a 6'3", 195 lbs. goalie from Long Valley, New Jersey was named "Rookie of the Week". It is the first time a UNH freshman goalie has been named Hockey East rookie of the week since Casey DeSmith earned the honor midway through the 2011-12 season. It may be the first time a UNH freshman goalie earned the award based on his first NCAA game.

In his NCAA debut against St. Lawrence in the second game of the 2022-23 season, Muszelik faced 32 shots on goal and only one got past him. On a St. Lawrence power play late in the first period, a shot ricocheted off a UNH defenseman and Muszelik had no chance to stop the redirection.

With 13 minutes remaining in the game and UNH leading 4-1, junior forward Nick Cafarelli committed a 5-minute major penalty for contact to the head. The door was open for St. Lawrence to stage a comeback. Fortunately, the UNH penalty kill shut the Skating Saints down and Muszelik made 6 key saves.

Here's a few of Muszelik's saves during the St. Lawrence 5-minute power play midway through the third period:

Interview with Tyler Muszelik

I had an opportunity to interview Tyler Muszelik, via email, about his NCAA debut and the Hockey East Rookie of the Week honor:

Mike Lowry: Congratulations on earning the Hockey East “Rookie of the Week” award for your first NCAA game. Would you describe your experiences leading up to the opening face off, during the early stages of the game, during the final moments, and after the game?

Tyler Muszelik: I was eager to play my first official college game so when coach Souza said I was in versus Saint Lawrence I was excited. I felt prepared and felt confident thinking back that I had already played some college opponents last season.
I felt sharp during the game so when it was close I just wanted to keep making saves to give us the opportunity to score a few more and take a bigger lead. When the game was over I was just happy and relieved to have had a good first college game and celebrate with my teammates on a successful weekend as a team.

Mike Lowry: How would you self-evaluate your performance?

Tyler Muszelik: The team made it easier for me by clearing guys out of the net front and not giving up to many grade A chances. I thought I was steady and thanks to my teammates kept Saint Lawrence to just 1 goal.

Lowry: How does the overall level of skill and competition in your first collegiate game compare to what you encountered in the USHL and international competition?

Muszelik: There is definitely a difference between college and USHL/international play. The guys are obviously older and they're bigger and stronger. It was a lot more physical of a game then I was used to. There was a lot more traffic in front of my net and plays were made a little bit faster.

Lowry: How would you describe the team’s style of play and it’s strengths?

Muszelik: I think our team this year is an "in your face" kind of team who can really skate and pride ourself on effort and compete. I think skating is a big strength of ours this year and we can really take advantage offensively because of it.