The No. 12 Massachusetts hockey team’s regular season is coming to a close at the Mullins Center this weekend, on March 7 and 8. The Minutemen (18-12-4, 9-9-4 Hockey East) are set to take on a familiar set of faces at the No. 5 University of Maine, a team they matched up and lost against on Feb. 2 at Orono Arena.
“[The Black Bears (21-6-5, 13-4-5 HEA)] have a strong identity as a team,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “They just work pucks to the net and everybody knows it’s going there. They work hard, they battle, [they have] strong goaltending. Well coached team.”
UMass gained five points from its last series against UMass Lowell, winning Thursday night’s shootout and claiming a 5-3 victory on Saturday. With Maine being another physical HEA team, the Minutemen are looking to take their strengths back home.
When the two teams met in early February, Carvel described the game as a playoff style match. UMass fell to the Black Bears 3-2 after it failed to tie the game in the third period and suffered untimely, undisciplined penalties.
Junior and Hobey Baker candidate Cole O’Hara tied the game in Orono at 2-2, giving the Minutemen some life in the match. O’Hara leads UMass in points with 47 on 20 goals and 27 assists and is currently second in the nation behind Denver’s Jack Devine with 48 points.
Heading into the weekend, the Minutemen will need to continue their momentum from Lowell to take on Maine, who is coming off a series sweep against Vermont.
Relying on goal-scorers O’Hara, Aydar Suniev, Jack Musa, Lucas Mercuri and Kenny Connors, who are also the first power play unit, will be key in finding wins at home. For the Black Bears, goaltender Albin Boija halted UMass tying the game with a save Carvel called “the best save … in college hockey” he’s ever seen.
On the other side of the puck, Carvel is pushing freshman pair Francesco Dell’Elce and Larry Keenan to want blocks in front of the net, rather than leave goaltender Michael Hrabal out to dry. The sophomore goaltender has been the deciding factor of the Minutemen’s back half of the season but has been forced to make difficult saves because of the still-developing freshmen.
“[Hrabal] made huge saves on Saturday night when we needed him to,” Carvel said. “… He has this wonderful confidence … in what [he’s] capable of. There’s nothing worse than a goalie that you don’t know what his confidence level is game-to-game.”
As for Maine, Harrison Scott and ex-Minuteman Taylor Makar are leading in points with 31 and 27, respectively. Josh Nadeau and Frank Djurasevic follow behind with 24 points each. Makar transferred to the Black Bears after three years with UMass, hoping to find his offensive spark again.
“[Makar] had a hat trick on Friday night [against Vermont]. I think he’s just utilizing the assets he has. He’s big, he skates, he’s tough, he competes and he’s fit in very nicely there with their program,” Carvel said. “I’m very happy for him. [He’s] a really good kid.”
Saturday night’s game will also honor four of the Minutemen’s final time in the Mullins Center. Graduate captain Linden Alger, senior alternate captains Mercuri and Ryan Lautenbach and graduate transfer Joey Musa will be celebrated.
“They’re a great group of guys,” Owen Murray said. “It’s crazy to think that I’ve already spent three years with [Alger, Mercuri and Lautenbach]. It feels like yesterday they were sophomores; I was a freshman.”
Puck drop against Maine on Friday, March 7 is set for 7 p.m. followed by a 7:30 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 8 with a senior ceremony awaiting after the game. Both matches can be watched on ESPN+.
Sydney Ciano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @SydneyCiano.
