The No. 17 Massachusetts hockey team got shut out in a 4-0 loss against Vermont on Saturday. The Minutemen (4-4-2, 0-2-2 Hockey East) leave Burlington with one HEA point after going winless against the Catamounts (2-4-3, 2-2-2 HEA).
Two empty net goals in the final three minutes sealed the victory for Vermont. Just after UMass goalkeeper Jackson Irving got pulled for an extra skater, both teams struggled to gain control of the puck. Eventually, Max Strand passed to Timofei Spitserov, who sent the puck from behind the blue line into the empty net.
In the final minute, Cole O’Hara skated toward a loose puck with the Catamounts’ Joel Määttä catching up to him. Määttä bumped O’Hara away from the puck, took it and tapped it into the net.
“Vermont got a lead and they played a really smart, safe game and stayed above and chipped pucks out so there wasn’t a lot coming at us the last two periods,” head coach Greg Carvel said.
The Catamounts started off strong, gaining an early lead over the Minutemen just one minute and 14 seconds into the game. Defenseman Luca Münzenberger passed the puck across the neutral zone to Massimo Lombardi on the transition. Lombardi skated up the right wing, beating two defenders before sending the puck past goaltender Michael Hrabal into the bottom left corner of the net.
Münzenberger extended Vermont’s lead in the 14th minute. Lucas Olvestad attempted to clear the puck, but a rebound off the wall landed it at the blue line near Münzenberger’s skates. A quick one-timer by the defenseman put the puck over Hrabal’s right shoulder.
Down two goals after 14 minutes, Jackson Irving took Hrabal’s place between the pipes for UMass. Irving finished the game with 11 saves. Hrabal had four saves before being taken off the ice.
“[Hrabal’s] game is off right now,” Carvel said. “That gave them the early lead, and we were just snakebitten.”
While unable to get the puck in the net, the Minutemen had some strong scoring opportunities. Lucas Mercuri won a third period face-off and passed the puck back to Joey Musa. Musa took a one-timer but sent the puck straight to Catamounts goalkeeper Axel Mangbo. On the next face-off, a near-identical shot from Musa was again saved. Earlier in the game, Kenny Connors passed the puck to Aydar Suniev in front of the goal. Suniev attempted to chip it in, but Mangbo denied him.
UMass had good moments on defense as well. Spitserov could have had a second goal on a fast break, but Olvestad and Francesco Dell’Elce’s strong defense got the puck away from his stick. Skating up the left wing, Lombardi almost had a two-on-one advantage for Vermont before Ryan Lautenbach prevented any chance of him passing the puck.
“I like the way we’re playing, it looked to me like a good 60 minutes, we just can’t get the puck in the net,” Carvel said. “I think we just did a good job getting Vermont on [its] heels. All [the team did] was [chip] pucks out and we were on top of them.”
The Minutemen failed to convert on power plays throughout the game. In the first period, the Catamounts’ Simon Jellus got a two-minute minor for roughing. Even with the man-up advantage, UMass couldn’t find the back of the net before O’Hara got a tripping penalty with 44 seconds left in the power play. Strand got a minor penalty for hooking early in the second, but Vermont’s defense held strong and killed the penalty.
Mangbo recorded his second shutout of the season for the Catamounts, facing 26 shots on goal. Connors led the Minutemen with six shots on goal, followed by Suniev with four.
UMass faces Hockey East rival Providence next in a home-and-home series. Puck drop is set for the first game at the Mullins Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Devin Lippman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @devinlippman.
