After a season opening win on Saturday against Bentley, the Massachusetts hockey team played an exhibition game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Sunday afternoon at the Mullins Center. Although the Minutemen lost 2-1 in overtime, 23 skaters took the ice for the Minutemen, giving head coach Greg Carvel a first look at five players that didn’t lace up in the season opener against Bentley.
Here are a few takeaways from the first weekend of the 2024-25 UMass hockey season.
Power play needs to find its footing
Losing Scott Morrow and Ryan Ufko hurts UMass in a lot of different areas of the game, but the most glaring hole this weekend was their absence on the power play. After three years of Morrow and Ufko quarterbacking the Minuteman power play units, the Minutemen looked a little lost on the man advantage this weekend, going a combined 0-9 between Saturday and Sunday.
Freshmen Francesco Dell’Elce and Larry Keenan headed up the point on most of the Minutemen’s power plays this weekend, and although the upside is apparent in both of their games, their command of the power play unit was lacking in both games. Both units looked stiff and too committed to their structure. Morrow and Ufko excelled in their play making creativity in the offensive zone on the man advantage, which is something the new point men need to lean into.
Defense holding up
Speaking of Dell’Elce and Keenan, the UMass defense as a whole was relatively shaky through the first 120 minutes of play this season. Dell’Elce and Keenan are both offensive minded defensemen playing on a pair together, and although they made some head-turning plays, their structure in the neutral and defensive zones was lacking at times.
Graduate student and captain Linden Alger also struggled this weekend. Alger had trouble clearing the puck from the defensive zone on multiple occasions, a worrisome sign considering he is supposed to be a stable stay-at-home defenseman in an otherwise young defensive core.
Freshman Finn Loftus and junior Lucas Ölvestad stood out defensively this weekend, both showing confidence in their games. Carvel said after the Bentley game that he was impressed with Ölvestad’s performance and that he expects him to be a No. 1 defenseman this season.
Loftus was in my eyes the best of the freshman group on the backend this weekend. He doesn’t have the offensive upside of Dell’Elce and Keenan, but he was very effective in the defensive zone which UMass needs from him this season.
Goaltending
The Minutemen have their starting goaltender in Michael Hrabal, a role that won’t change assuming full health or a serious downturn in play, which I don’t see happening, but Jackson Irving proved his worth as a strong backup on Sunday in the exhibition game.
Irving made 33 saves on 35 shots against the Engineers, keeping them to one goal in regulation. He appeared in one game last season and was the clear No. 3 on the depth chart behind Hrabal and Cole Brady, so coming into this season, UMass had effectively two unproven backups.
Irving proved on Sunday that if needed, he can be a stable platoon for the Minutemen should he be needed. He doesn’t have the size or athleticism of Hrabal, but he is positionally sound and will make most of the saves that should be made.
Aydar Suniev is a real Hobey Baker candidate
Aydar Suniev posted a hat trick against Bentley on Saturday night and hit two posts on Sunday in the exhibition game. He has already looked better than he did last season, playing with a newfound sense of confidence in his offensive game.
Suniev was dangerous with and without the puck in both the offensive and neutral zones, creating offense out of seemingly nothing. His shot is still his most elite asset, but his vision and skating seem to have improved over the offseason.
UMass is back on the ice on Friday, Oct. 11 in Las Vegas, when it will take on Omaha in the opening game of the 2024 Ice Breaker tournament.
Matt Skillings can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X at matt_skillings.
