The No. 15 Massachusetts hockey team concluded its second match of a two-game home series with a 4-1 win over Northern Michigan, improving to 2-0 on the weekend to open its season. The last time the Minutemen (2-0) won their first two games and earned a sweep in their first series was in 2018.
“I expected a much more even game tonight, and that’s what we got,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “It’s hard to get sweeps, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. I give our guys credit, it’s hard to keep that momentum going and to pull off the sweep…it’s a great, great start to our season. Two convincing wins.”
Freshman Landon Nycz netted the game-winner for UMass, taking advantage of offensive zone pressure as time was about to expire in the second period. Nycz was the third Minuteman freshman to score in the opening weekend.
After an offensive push put up several shots that Wildcat (0-2) goaltender William Gramme kept out of the net, James Duerr chased down the rebound in the corner and found an open Nycz out by the blue line, passing the puck over to set up a play. The freshman settled the puck, working it up to the left circle, where, with a Wildcat on him, he let off a wrister. With traffic out in front of Gramme, Nycz capitalized on the screen from Lukas Klecka and found the opening.
“I think we had to create our own energy today and I think we did a good job of it,” Nycz said.
In net, Hrabal made the difference in this match. Although the strong backline in front of him meant he didn’t have to face a ton of NMU drives, Hrabal limited the Wildcats to one goal and allowed his team to continue pushing for tallies.
Trying to break a fragile 1-0 UMass lead halfway through the second period, three NMU players moved up the ice towards Hrabal. Medrick Bolduc took a low shot from the right circle. Hrabal quickly used his right leg pad to kick the puck away, but Grayden Slipec collected the rebound off to Hrabal’s right side, throwing it at the empty net. Hrabal reacted, diving with his stick to stop the puck before the Wildcats could tie the game.
“Like last night, [Hrabal would] go long stretches without action, and tonight we didn’t give up a ton of scoring chances,” Carvel said. “I know he made some huge saves…he just wasn’t involved for long stretches. It’s tough for goalies when that happens, but he did make a couple huge saves for us.”
Jenčko opened the scoring early in the first period, converting on a power play to put the Minutemen on the board.
Aside from Jenčko’s tally, special teams struggled through the weekend, going 1-for-9 overall. They couldn’t hold possession of the puck or create productive offensive pushes.
Gramme headed to the bench for the extra NMU attacker with three and a half minutes left to play. Two UMass players added insurance goals on the empty net.
Jack Musa, who picked up an assist on Jenčko’s goal, worked the puck all the way up the offensive zone, carefully controlling the puck with a Wildcat defender on him. He took no chances, skating his way up to the crease before easily pushing the puck behind the goal line.
Soon after Musa’s empty-netter, Klecka picked up his own his own from the right circle, finding a path that NMU wasn’t blocking. Both Klecka and Musa scored in Saturday’s matchup as well.
With the extra attacker, the Wildcats found their lone goal on the night. Off a pass from Tobias Pitka, Caiden Gault found the space between Hrabal and the right post with a shot from the right side of the crease, creating a one-goal game with under three minutes left on the clock. The empty-netters quickly extinguished any threat of a Northern Michigan comeback.
“I think we proved when we play to our identity, we’re a good hockey team,” Jenčko said.
The Minutemen return to play on Friday, Oct. 10 for their first away match against Stonehill. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Caroline Burge can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Caroline_Burge.
