The Massachusetts hockey team looks ahead to its home-away matchups Thursday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 16, searching for redemption against No. 10 Providence College after its shootout loss tie and a 0-4 loss against Vermont.
“Every game seems to be very low scoring, very similar styles,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “I think Providence … brought in a really good recruiting class and I think their depth is probably better than ours.”
UMass’ (4-4-2, 0-1-1 Hockey East) second HEA series this season against the Catamounts unveiled consistent weaknesses in its backend and struggles in capitalizing on offensive chances. Though its fourth line stepped up to the challenge in Friday’s battle as freshman forward James Duerr logged his first three points on an assist and two goals with his linemates tallying assists throughout the night, the Minutemen could not generate enough momentum to save the weekend.
Saturday’s loss bumped the Minutemen out of the top 20 NCAA teams in the USCHO polls and their second consecutive HEA series will test their competitiveness in the conference.
The Friars (6-1-2, 4-0-2 HEA) are coming in strong with offensive power spread throughout the team. They are led by Tanner Adams and Will Logan each with nine points on five goals and four assists, and four goals and five assists respectively. Right behind them are Will Elger, Trevor Connelly and Andrew Centrella putting up between seven and eight points.
Continuing to mature a young defense and sustaining stability in the net will pose challenges for UMass.
Against the Catamounts, starting goaltender Michael Hrabal allowed in two soft goals before getting pulled and replaced by sophomore Jackson Irving almost 15 minutes into the first period. Irving stood tall in net with an impressive behind-the-back save and 11 saves Saturday against Vermont.
“Just stay confident and mentally tell yourself you’re ready to play,” Irving said. “When you first get in, it’s kind of like ‘Oh boy,’ then [the] first shot comes and you settle right in.”
As for UMass’ offense, it hit a lull in Vermont after averaging roughly three goals per game up until being shut out by the Catamounts. Going back to the basics, stabilizing the puck in their opponent’s offensive zone, and avoiding turnovers will be difference makers to the Minutemen’s next series.
“We had 20 scoring chances … The forwards played hard, I thought they created a lot,” Carvel said. “How much is on the [goaltender versus] how much is on us is something I’m not worried about.”
Junior Cole O’Hara leads UMass in points with 12 points on four goals and eight assists. Behind him, Aydar Suniev sits at 10 points on six goals and four assists, though the sophomore has yet to produce consistent offense in recent games.
Providence defensemen senior Guillaume Richard, graduate Connor Kelley, freshman Tomas Mathu and sophomore Andrew Centrella have held the backend down, totaling 45 blocked shots so far this season. Respectively, the Friars have tallied 15, 13, nine and eight blocks keeping goaltenders Philip Svedebäck and Zachary Borgiel out of trouble. The two have shared time in net with Svedebäck playing in six games with 159 saves and a 0.919 save percentage, and Borgiel holding down four games with 109 saves for a 0.932 save percentage.
Thursday night puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Mullins Center followed by a Saturday night 6 p.m. start time battle in Friars’ territory at Schneider Arena. Both matchups can be viewed on ESPN+.
Sydney Ciano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @SydneyCiano.
