The No. 17 Massachusetts hockey team is preparing to take on No. 16 UMass Lowell in its final home-and-home series of the 2024-2025 regular season. With both teams vying for a more favorable Hockey East standing in the postseason, there is one thing to count on from both teams – desperation.
“They play aggressive, it’s tough to play against that school,” head coach Greg Carvel said about the River Hawks. “Both teams play a very similar style: heavy, defensive-minded hockey with as much aggression as you can put into it.”
Coming off a split series with New Hampshire, UMass is looking to establish a winning streak after a shootout loss on Friday and regulation win on Saturday.
Junior Cole O’Hara and sophomore Michael Hrabal recently received Hockey East player and goaltender of the week accolades, respectively. O’Hara leads the Minutemen (17-12-3, 8-9-3 HEA) across the stat sheet with 45 points on 18 goals and 27 assists. The Hobey Baker contender has tallied at least one point in all but six of UMass’ 32 games this season. O’Hara is in a four-way tie to lead the NCAA in points and leads all Hockey East skaters in points.
“What pops out to me is how [O’Hara] scores,” Carvel said. “He’s got a 10-game scoring streak, so he just does it every night. There’s been a couple three or four point games but it’s one and two points every night, and that’s hard to do.”
Hrabal remained composed and consistent in the crease, posting a .903 save percentage and 1.92 goals against average last weekend.
“You always trust a guy like that to make plays. He’s always going to make those plays too, so it’s always nice to have that trust in him,” Lucas Ölvestad said. “He’s very good at communicating, he’s very vocal and tells you what he sees out there.”
Sophomore Aydar Suniev made an impact for UMass, scoring two goals and one assist against UNH after being out for a month with a lower body injury. The forward now has 16 goals and 14 assists.
“He’s a big time player, so it’s really good [to have Suniev back],” freshman forward Daniel Jencko said. “It’s a privilege that I can play with him on a line and we just try to work together to make plays and help the team to win.”
The River Hawks (15-12-3, 8-10-2 HEA) are looking to rebound after falling 4-2 against No. 7 Providence in a stand-alone game last Saturday. Lowell is led in scoring by senior Owen Cole, who has 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists. Graduate defender Ben Meehan has been a key playmaker on both ends of the ice and is in a three-way tie for second place in assists with 11.
Graduate student Henry Welsch and junior Beni Halasz split time between the pipes for Lowell. Welsch has a 2.42 goals against average and .901 save percentage, and Halasz averages 2.49 goals against and has a .911 save percentage.
“We’re down to four games left. Those four games are going to determine a lot. Us and Lowell are neck and neck in Hockey East, the national polls and our rankings so these are huge, huge games,” Carvel said.
The series starts at the Mullins Center on Thursday, Feb. 27 with a 7 p.m. puck drop. Both teams travel to Lowell for Saturday’s contest on March 1 with the game set to start at 6:05 p.m.
“We’re in do or die time of the year,” Carvel said. “A win is going to take you up a level, a loss is going to drop you down a level, so there’s a lot riding on every game.”
Devin Lippman can be reached at [email protected]u and followed on X @devinlippman.
