The Massachusetts hockey team prepares for its rematch against Boston University this upcoming Friday at Agganis Arena, after previously falling to the Terriers 3-2 on Feb. 2.
“I don’t mind playing a team fairly close together, a week apart, because your game plan is probably still pretty similar,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “We know what we’re getting into.”
The Terriers (15-11-2, 10-7-2 Hockey East) are coming off their 3-2 semifinal matchup victory in the Beanpot tournament against Harvard on Feb. 5. Despite being outshot 49-42 by the Crimson, BU came out victorious, winning in double overtime on freshman Ty Amonte’s game-winning goal.
Junior Jordan Greenway is on his way to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, which will leave the Terriers without a crucial piece of their offensive game against the Minutemen. Greenway’s 25 points (nine goals and a team-high 16 assists) leaves a big hole for BU to fill.
“I think that’s a big loss for their team,” Carvel said. “[Greenway is] a very unique player in this league with his size and his ability to play around the net. That’s a plus for us but they’ll be ready to play us for sure.”
Unlike the Terriers, UMass (12-16-1, 6-12-1 HEA) faced two opponents since the teams’ last meeting. A 3-1 loss to New Hampshire extended the Minuteman losing streak to six before a 5-2 win over Merrimack on Tuesday halted the slide.
“We were able to finally put more goals in the back of the net,” Carvel said. “We’ve been stuck on one or two goals for a while now so to finally break the dam and score five—hopefully that gives confidence and hopefully the dam’s broken and goals can come more easily now.”
Oliver Chau leads UMass with 21 points on eight goals and 13 assists while Mitchell Chaffee is close behind with 20 points through a team-high 11 goals and nine assists.
Mario Ferraro continues to anchor UMass’ defense with 43 blocks while also adding three goals and a team-high 15 assists.
BU is led by Bobo Carpenter with 27 points on a team-high 16 goals and 11 assists to his credit as well. Dante Fabbro leads the Terriers with 57 blocked shots while also contributing eight goals and 14 assists.
Netminder Jake Oettinger is coming off a 47-save performance against Harvard. The sophomore recorded 20 saves in the first meeting with UMass and has found himself between the pipes for the Terriers for the majority of this season.
Ryan Wischow and Matt Murray continue to trade off turns in net for the Minutemen. Murray turned aside 31 shots against Merrimack and has now clocked just over 933 minutes of game action.
Carvel recalls the Terriers’ strong transition game and multiple rush opportunities during the last meeting and he believes the key will be to limit their fast-break game.
“If I remember correctly, they scored two goals on the rush,” Carvel said. “They’re high-skilled players, so we can’t give them grade-A scoring chances.
“I expect a really good hockey game. Winning on the road is tough in this league, but the fact that we played them pretty close last weekend, I think it’ll give our team some confidence going in.”
Puck is set to drop at 7:30 p.m. from Agganis.
Mollie Walker can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at MWalker2019.
