The Massachusetts hockey team beat Vermont 2-1 Wednesday night, led by a performance of desperation from seniors Lucas Mercuri and Ryan Lautenbach. They put up both of the team’s goals.
“You couldn’t write the script better,” alternate captain Mercuri said. “[Lautenbach] and I, [Linden Alger], put in four or five years here. Obviously, it was a little emotional and I thought, you know, everybody played well, but we tried our best to just lead and leave it all out there, last time at the [Mullins Center].”
The two seniors carried the team forward in the final game of their careers on home ice. A loss tonight would’ve ended the Minutemen’s (20-12-5, 10-9-5 HEA) Hockey East tournament run.
A offensively-strong first period for the seniors started and ended the scoring for the game.
Lautenbach found the back of the net on the eventual game-winning goal with just under seven minutes left on the clock. The tally marked the Michigan native’s fifth of the season.
In the defensive zone, Lautenbach turned the puck over and carried the puck all the way up the ice. He moved up the left boards and over to the crease, sweeping the puck across the crease on his backhand to protect it from two Catamount (11-21-3, 6-16-2 HEA) defensemen. With momentum, Lautenbach lifted the puck over Vermont netminder Keenan Rancier’s left pad.
“That was desperation,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “That was a kid that this was his last game on this ice.”
Line mates Cole O’Hara and Mercuri connected on the first lamp-lighter.
As O’Hara collected the puck up at the boards and circled out to the blue line, Mercuri was positioned out in front of the crease, waiting for his opportunity. When O’Hara launched the puck at him, Mercuri moved quickly to get his stick on it, deflecting it downwards and finding the back of the net.
Mercuri reached ten goals on the season with the mark, a career high for the Montreal native.
Mercuri and Lautenbach are the only two four-year Minutemen seniors from an original class of seven, a testament to their loyalty to the program.
“It’s been everything,” Mercuri said. “You go to college, play hockey to create good relationships and we’ll be brothers for life. Best friends for life. You know, be in each others’ weddings and all that stuff. We’ve been roommates for four years, lived together, played together, and for us to show up here today and play hard for our team … means everything.”
As the last minute wound down in the third period, Mercuri sent one last puck towards an empty net. The puck sliding down the ice brought the whole crowd to its feet. It missed just wide, but the energy Mercuri’s attempt brought to the arena held through the final seconds.
In their final run, the seniors led the way for UMass to move forward in the Hockey East tournament. They’re locked for at least one more match in the single-elimination competition for the group to take on together.
“Lautenbach and Mercuri and Alger, this being their last game, those kids gave a ton to this program,” Carvel said. “Heart and soul kids. A lot of sweat and tears and blood.”
The seniors and the rest of the Minutemen hockey team return to play on Saturday as they face off against Boston University in the quarterfinal round of the Hockey East tournament.
“It’s been great coaching those three kids,” Carvel said. “They’ll look back on their time at UMass and they’ll have no regrets.”
Caroline Burge can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Caroline_Burge
