The ninth-ranked UMass hockey team will be moving up in the polls.
The Minutemen completed a two-game sweep of No. 4 Providence with a 3-2 victory, Saturday in Rhode Island.
UMass (8-1-0) stayed perfect in Hockey East at 5-0-0. The Friars (5-3-1) fell to 2-2-0 in the conference.
“This year, time and again here, we’re finding ways to win games that maybe we didn’t deserve to,” UMass head coach Greg Carvel said in a release provided by the school. “It’s a different hockey game in this building, much different than ours. Tonight the ice was choppy, the puck wouldn’t sit down for either team, it was a bit of an ugly game. It was going to come down to which team could grind that extra puck into the net. Much like Thursday, I thought my team could play much better, but I give my team a lot of credit. They’re finding ways to win games and that’s quite a character builder; this is a very tough building to play in, very tough building to win in. We’ll take these points and we’ll scoot out of here as quick as we can.”
Philip Lagunov scored a power-play goal 3 minutes, 35 seconds into the first to get the Minutemen going. Bobby Trivigno and Marc Del Gaizo had assists on the play.
Much like Thursday, UMass took a 2-0 lead on Providence. Brett Boeing stripped PC goalie Hayden Hawkey of the puck and scored a short-handed goal on a wraparound near the end of the first.
The Friars scored a pair in the second period to tie the game, but just like Thursday, UMass struck for the winner late.
Freshman Anthony Del Gaizo redirected in a shot from the point by classmate Colin Felix with 1:49 left for the game-winner. Boeing picked up an assist on the play.
Matt Murray finished with 29 saves.
UMass plays at Holy Cross at 7 p.m. Friday.
Amherst 4, Saint Joseph’s College 2 — Fikayo Ajayi scored two goals and added two assists as the Mammoths (14-4-1) advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament third round with the win at home Sunday.
Amherst beat Bridgewater State, 1-0, in the first round on Saturday to advance.
Amherst 1, MIT 0 — Rubii Tamen scored from Hayley Roy as the Mammoths (15-2-2) advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, Sunday at home.
Amherst advanced with a 3-0 win over Lesley in the first round, Saturday.
Tufts 3, Smith 0 — The Jumbos took a 2-0 lead in the first half en route to the victory in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament in Salisbury, Maryland, Saturday.
Tufts outshot Smith, 17-5 and held a 16-4 edge in corners.
Channy Cornell made eight saves in defeat.
It was the final game for senior Emily Biggs of Northampton.
The Pioneers (15-8) finished with their best record since 1993 and advanced to the second round for only the second time in program history.
Towson 78, UMass 53 — The Minutewomen (1-1) shot 27 percent from the floor en route to the road loss, Sunday.
Bre Hampton-Bey (12 points) and Hailey Leidel (11 points) were the only UMass players in double figures.
Southern Vermont 65, Mount Holyoke 56 — Katlyn Grover had 25 points, while Leah Hodges added 12 but the Lyons (0-2) fell at home.
Mikayla McEwen (South Hadley) had seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
New England Regional Championships — Amherst finished 13th, followed by Smith (16th) and Mount Holyoke (17th) in Brunswick, Maine, Saturday.
Olivia Polischeck (39th, 22:55.04) led the Mammoths on the 6-kilometer course.
Frances Duncan (Amherst Regional) was 44th in 23:02.84 for the Pioneers.
Simone Jacob (66th, 23:23.37) led the Pioneers.
New England Regional Championships — Amherst finished with 65 points to top the field in Brunswick, Maine, Saturday.
Clark Ricciardelli was fourth in 25:00.13 on the 8-kilometer course to lead the Mammoths.
Aidan Gilson (Northampton) was 50th (26:11.41) for MIT.