In a fast-paced, physical battle in Alfond Arena, the Massachusetts hockey team fell just short to the University of Maine 3-2 on Sunday evening.
As the seconds ticked down in the third period, goaltender Michael Hrabal skated his way over to the bench to give the Minutemen (14-11-2, 5-8-2 Hockey East) a sixth skater. Black Bears’ (16-5-3, 8-3-3 HEA) goaltender Albin Boija covered the right side of net as Francesco Dell’Elce took a shot above the blue line. The puck deflected over to Dans Locmelis on the left with a clear shot into the net. Boija extended his body just enough to glove the puck and keep Maine on top.
“[Maine’s] goaltender had to make the best save I’ve ever seen in college hockey to keep it from being a tied game,” head coach Greg Carvel said.
After the Black Bears took their first lead of the game at the start of the second period, Cole O’Hara quickly answered and tied it 2-2 less than a minute later.
Jack Musa skated his way into the left circle and dropped it off to Lucas Mercuri as Maine’s defender fell forward onto the ice. Mercuri held onto the puck for less than a second before passing it over to O’Hara, confusing the Black Bears covering UMass’ first line. From the right circle, the junior shot the puck at Boija who dove onto the ice to try and make the save. With Musa prepared to make a last-second tap, O’Hara’s shot deflected off Boija and into the net.
Ex-Minuteman Taylor Makar gave the Black Bears the upper hand over halfway through the second period.
Brandon Holt sent a wrist shot at Hrabal that was blocked by Ryan Lautenbach. The puck deflected off his stick to Oskar Komarov who lightly tapped the puck in Hrabal’s direction. Unable to cover the puck quickly, Makar turned around, found the puck, and flipped it over Hrabal’s leg to put Maine up 3-2.
Though short lived, Josh Nadeau gave the Black Bears their first lead of the evening at the start of the second period.
David Breazeale retrieved the puck just as he entered the neutral zone, immediately taking the action back the other way. Encroaching in on Hrabal, the sophomore skated up and left his net open. At the last second with the Minutemen expecting Breazeale to take a shot, he passed the puck through the legs of Dell’Elce and into Nadeau’s control. Nadeau tapped it in and put Maine up 2-1 before O’Hara’s goal.
“The chances we got tonight compared to how Maine scored [its] goals – we scored on a rush [and] we scored on a nice play on the corner [with] a guy wide open in front of the net,” Carvel said. “But Maine scores two goals on the back post … We don’t score enough goals that way, I’ve watched Maine score like that all year long. That’s, to me, the difference.”
Kenny Connors opened scoring for the Minutemen, continuing his hot streak from his two-goal game against Merrimack on Friday night.
Along the boards, Larry Keenan sent the puck over to Lautenbach who was behind the left side of the net. Lautenbach got the puck out from the edge and over to Connors. The junior’s one-timer flew past Boija’s left.
After struggling to keep up with the Black Bears for the opening minutes of the game, UMass’ offense picked up its feet and was sparked back to life.
“I didn’t like our start. [It] took us a while to get our feet going,” Carvel said.
The physical evening sent a board crashing down on the ice and players on both sides to the box.
The Black Bears’ second goal happened during four-on-four action after Thomas Freel took a roughing penalty that was followed 14 seconds later by Mercuri’s slashing penalty at the end of the first period.
Down 3-2 in the third with less than six minutes left, Daniel Jenčko took a boarding penalty. Though Makar was also sent to the box for slashing nearly a minute after, the Minutemen couldn’t generate offense and allowed anticipation to get the best of them. UMass took a penalty for too many men on the ice with four seconds left of four-on-four play, allowing Maine to control the closing minutes of the game.
“We were all screaming it on the bench, ‘Who’s going?’” Carvel said. “We double, triple checked and the [player] still jumps out [early].”
Despite giving up three goals, Hrabal kept UMass in the game for a majority of the first period as the Minutemen took time to adjust. The Black Bears had possession of the puck almost exclusively for nearly the first five minutes. Nick VanTassell tallied UMass’ first shot at 4:36 while Maine already managed to put eight shots on Hrabal. In the first period alone, Hrabal faced 20 shots out of his total 31 and allowed in Holt’s game-tying goal with about 40 seconds left.
The Minutemen stay on the road for a one-game weekend against the University of Connecticut. This will be the third and final time UMass and UConn meet this season. Puck drop against the Huskies is set for 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7. The game can also be watched on ESPN+.
“The last 50 minutes was definitely playoff hockey,” Carvel said.
Sydney Ciano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @SydneyCiano.