Massachusetts hockey players celebrate a second-period goal against Boston University at the Mullins Center earlier this season.
Staff photo/Dan Little
Saturday's Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal game against Providence was a dream start for the Massachusetts hockey team.
With the season just around the corner, the fifth-seeded Minutemen scored two goals in the first five minutes of the game, with Ryan Lautenbach scoring 1:07 into the game and Ryan Lautenbach scoring just 4:16 into the game. Ufko led the University of Massachusetts 2-0. game.
This quick start made the difference. The Minutemen led 3-0 with 5 minutes, 38 seconds left, and fourth-seeded Providence pulled one back 28 seconds later, the only time the Friars beat University of Massachusetts goaltender Michael Flavel. The freshman helped the Minutemen with 27 saves.Won 3-1 at Schneider Arena in Providence, Rhode Island, advancing to Friday's semifinals at TD Garden.
“It was the best 60 minutes we've put together this year,” Minutemen coach Greg Carvel told reporters after the game. “I think we prepared the team very well. We had a game plan and the players executed very well. Of course getting an early lead is very beneficial, but offensively I thought we limited them in. I thought we were better on special teams. We were diligent in our faceoffs and a lot of our players played the selfless game that you need at this time of year. . We earned that victory tonight. It was no fluke.”
This is the third time in four years that UMass (20-12-3) has advanced to the Hockey East semifinals. The Minutemen will face No. 1 Boston College after the Eagles defeated UW 5-4 in the quarterfinals. The semi-final match will be played at the Garden at 4pm.
“It feels great,” Carvel said. “I'm really happy with this group of kids. They deserve it. We had a lot of games we should have won this year, but this one we won when we really needed it. Big for this group.” I think it's a boost. They've been really good all year. They're great kids and they play hard. I think they deserve more than they got.”
Saturday's win not only advances them to the Hockey East Tournament, but also keeps the Minutemen's hopes of making the NCAA Tournament alive. UMass moved up to No. 12 in the pairwise rankings after the game, while Providence fell to No. 17.
“It’s 20 wins tonight,” Carvel said. “That's a big accomplishment. “Usually that's good enough to go to the NCAA Tournament, but this year I feel like I have to be 21 or 22. We're really excited because it's a great opportunity to be proud of our school.”
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A great effort from Taylor Makar and a smooth pass from Lucas Merkuri gave Massachusetts the lead.
Makar got the puck in the corner and beat it to Mercuri. He slipped a backhand pass to Rautenbach in front of him and smashed it home, giving the Minutemen some early momentum.
UMass' second record came from an offensive zone draw win. Kenny Connors won the face-off with Ufko, and the Minutemen quickly held a 2-0 lead as he drilled a slap shot through traffic and into the back of the net.
From there, UMass appeared to hold a comfortable 2-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, the Minutemen clamped down and limited Providence's chances. The Friars finished with six shots on goal in the final 20 minutes.
“I thought our defense around the net was really good,” Carvel said. “That's where we were very effective. A big part of our game plan was to limit the puck coming into the slot from below the goal line. There were a lot of bodies in there. Michael in the slot I don’t think we had to make a ton of big saves from the area, but it was something we were trying to stop them from doing.”
Connors added Massachusetts' third goal, helping give the Minutemen an extra cushion late in the game. After a scramble in front of the Friar net, Connors came in, collected the spilled puck and drove it home, extending Massachusetts' lead. Rautenbach and Mercuri had assists on this play.
Providence (18-13-4) got one back on the power play right after Connors scored. Guillaume Richard got the puck at the top of the zone, sent a pass to Hudson Malinoski in the right circle, and hit a slap shot past Flavel to give the Friars the lead. Froebel knew this was his only chance to get past him as the University of Massachusetts held on late to advance to the semifinals.
Providence goaltender Filip Svedebak finished with 22 saves.
