The University of Massachusetts men’s hockey team defeated Northeastern 4-1 in the Hockey East Quarterfinal round on March 14, earning a place in next week’s semifinal at TD Garden in Boston.
This win is significant for the Minutemen, who improved their season record to 22-12-1 and secured a spot among the final four teams competing for the conference title.
UMass head coach Greg Carvel said, “Outstanding job bour our team tonight. I thought the first period was really even, but as the game wore on, I really liked our game. I thought it was an advantage that we did not play Wednesday and they had to. I think as the game wore on, you could see that and feel that. I thought we played a really good defensive game, didn’t allow a lot of entries with possession, kept them on the outside and followed our game plan extremely well. I’m very proud of this team. This team was .500 in January, and they just keep getting better, they’re building confidence and they know how to win games. I’ve been here 10 years here now, and this is another group that I’m very proud of that’s learned how to play the game the right way. They play for each other, and they play hard, and they play with integrity, and they’re learning how to how to do things the right way and get rewarded for it.”
The Minutemen took an early lead when sophomore Larry Keenan scored at 3:37 in the first period with assists from Jack Musa and Václav Nestrašil. Northeastern tied it late in the first period with a goal by Griffin Erdman assisted by Joe Connor and Austen May.
Jack Musa restored UMass’s lead late in the second period with his 16th goal of the season after receiving passes from Jack Galanek and Nestrašil. In the third period, Nestrašil added another goal following a setup from Galanek and Musa. Cam O’Neill sealed the victory with an empty net goal assisted by Lukáš Klecka and Justin Kerr.
Northeastern outshot UMass 31-27 during the contest; both teams went scoreless on their single power-play opportunities. Goaltender Michael Hrabal made 30 saves for UMass while Lawton Zacher stopped 23 shots for Northeastern.
UMass will await its opponent for next Friday’s Hockey East Semifinal as game times are set to be announced after all quarterfinal matches conclude.
