By Warren Kozireski —
University of Massachusetts sophomore defenseman Zac Jones was a third-round choice (68th overall) by the New York Rangers in the 2019 National Hockey League Entry Draft and, after helping his team to the Hockey East title, is just one step away from bringing the school its first Division I men’s hockey national championship.
The team swept through the NCAA East Regional with wins over Lake Superior State and Bemidji State before taking down two-time defending champion Minnesota-Duluth in overtime at the Frozen Four semi-finals.
“Our forwards are doing a terrific job down low getting the pucks in deep and working their D,” Jones said in a Friday press conference. “We were in the zone two, three minutes at a time and that wears on a team.
“It’s fun to play in the o-zone and when you have the puck on your stick all the time, it’s great. We took the momentum from the third (period) and really dominated them in the overtime.”
The 5’10”, 172 lb. left-shot Jones tied for first nationally in goals by defensemen (9) and goals per-game (0.32) with teammate Matthew Kessel, was third in points by defensemen (24) and seventh in points-per game (0.86) by defensemen and was a Second Team Hockey East All-Conference selection this season.
Last year he became the first UMass blueliner during the program’s Division I era to post 20 assists in his rookie season on his way to Hockey East All-Rookie team.
Prior to college, Jones spent three seasons with the Selects Academy at South Kent Prep School and one campaign with Tri-City in the USHL where he tallied 56 points in 52 games before being chosen by the Rangers. He was also part of Team USA at the IIHF Under-20 World Junior team in 2019.
Now his Minutemen take on St. Cloud State Saturday night, a team also trying to win their first national championship.
“The guys…here before me really set the standard of UMass hockey…came in and turned this program around. Being a current player, I’m trying to build that legacy and keep that going and make history.”
