Freshman forward Vaclav Nestrasil’s hat trick catapulted the No. 14 UMass hockey team past Stonehill, 4-1, at Warrior Ice Arena on Friday.
Nestrasil, a 2025 first-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, opened the scoring for the Minutemen on the power play in the first period, then netted two more as UMass improved to 3-0-0 to open the 2025-26 season.
“As strong as we came out in our first game, we came out really poorly tonight,” said Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel said. “I give Stonehill credit. I thought they were playing outstanding in the first period. We weren’t winning any battles. We went in the locker room and talked about that and started to turn the tide. Then special teams were a big factor, which we needed tonight. I thought Michael Hrabal was great in net and he quietly made a huge, huge difference. The second half of the game felt like we got control and played the way we needed to, but I give Stonehill credit, they played really well tonight.”
UMass went 2-for-4 on the man-advantage against the Skyhawks as Nestrasil netted both power-play strikes.
Sophomore Mikey DeAngelo grabbed his first goal with the Minutemen as well on Friday after transferring from Michigan State this past offseason.
Sophomore Daniel Jencko and junior Jack Musa supplemented UMass’ offense with two assists each.
Hrabal saw considerably more action than Stonehill goalie Connor Androlewicz. Hrabal had 39 saves while Androlewicz grossed 23 saves.
The Minutemen return to the Mullins Center for two games next week, starting Friday, Oct. 17 with a Hockey East matchup against Northeastern.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
