A trip to TD Garden is on the line when the No. 14 UMass hockey team faces off against No. 9 Boston University on Saturday during the quarterfinal round of the Hockey East Playoffs.
The Minutemen (20-12-5) will return to Agganis Arena for the second time this season after taking care of 11th-seeded Vermont, 2-1, at the Mullins Center on Wednesday during the opening round. The Terriers (20-12-2) earned a bye into the quarterfinals with a top-five finish in Hockey East.
The two teams split the regular-season series in early December, as the road team won each game. First, UMass blanked BU, 4-0, in a contest that included five goals wiped off the board due to goalie interference. Then, the Terriers responded in Amherst with a 4-2 win, using a three-goal third period to take the victory.
“I think it was 4-0 there, but that was early on,” Minuteman senior Lucas Mercuri said. “Two different teams now, right. [Michael Hrabal] plays really well in Boston and we love to go on the road and be road dogs. That’ll be a good matchup. They’re a good team, we’re a good team, it’ll be a good game.”
On Hrabal, the Minutemen’s sophomore goalie did indeed show out in the state’s capital during the regular season, winning all three games while allowing just two goals in 180 minutes of action. The 6-foot-7 netminder hasn’t lost since Feb. 15 against Boston College and appears to be playing his best hockey of his college career.
“I’m a goalie, I’m there to stop pucks. The guys are here to score,” Hrabal said. “We score more goals than we let in, that’s why we [win].
“I’m trying to be in the moment, right here right now,” Hrabal added. “That’s all that matters, [to] be there to help the team.”
Hrabal has a 2.32 goals-against average and a .927 save-percentage in 33 games this season.
Junior Cole O’Hara became the second UMass skater in its Division 1 history to reach 50 points in a season, after earning an assist on the Minutemen’s opening goal against the Catamounts on Wednesday. O’Hara is tied for second in the country in points and is one of four UMass players with at least 30 points. Two more in sophomore Dans Locmelis (29 points) and junior Kenny Connors (28) aren’t too far behind either.
The Terriers have been a different team since bringing in freshman goalie Mikhail Yegorov after the semester break. Yegorov has compiled a 7-4-1 record, with a 1.82 GAA and .936 SV% in the 12 games the No. 49 overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils has played.
“I know he’s a high draft pick,” UMass head coach Greg Carvel said. “I’ve heard comments that they play with more confidence with him and that’s what good goalies will do, give you a lot of confidence, we know.”
Yegorov’s best performance to date was during the Beanpot championship on Feb. 10, in which the Russian goalie made 43 saves against Boston College, in BU’s 4-1 win.
The Terriers are lead on offense by the Hutson brothers, Quinn and Cole, who have 85 points between them. Cole Hutson is the second-highest scoring defenseman in the nation with 39 points, trailing Army’s Mac Gadowsky by one point.
A win would send the Minutemen to the Garden for the second straight year, but a loss would almost certainly not end their season. UMass is all but certain to qualify for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large qualifier, even if it doesn’t win Hockey East.
“It’s been a great year,” Carvel said. “This team has continually gone in the right direction. I may not have been happy with the first part of our year, but we never went backwards, we always went forwards. That’s to me a real good sign of the group.”
Friday morning Hockey East announced its All-Star teams and two Minutemen received selections. O’Hara was selected as a first-team All-Star, while Hrabal was picked for the third team. This marks O’Hara’s first Hockey East All-Star honor. Hrabal is the first UMass goalie to become a two-time All-Star.
Puck drop for Saturday’s game at Agganis is set for 4:30 p.m.
