For the fifth time since head coach Greg Carvel took over the UMass hockey team, the Minutemen are Hockey East semifinalists.
UMass outdueled Northeastern, 4-1, at the Mullins Center in the Hockey East quarterfinals last Saturday to advance to the TD Garden in Boston, marking the Minutemen’s first appearance in the conference semis since 2024.
Because Merrimack upset top-seeded Providence, 3-2, in overtime during the quarterfinals, the Warriors drew UMass in Friday’s semifinal tilt, which will begin at 4 p.m. As the second-place team, the Minutemen are the highest seed remaining in the Hockey East Tournament, while Merrimack is the lowest at No. 8.
UMass swept the Warriors in early January, kick-starting its run of seven straight wins and ultimately, its entire second half surge.
Merrimack only lost three more games on its schedule following its two straight defeats to the Minutemen, so Friday’s clash will feature a pair of squads with heaps of momentum.
“[We’re] focusing on what we did there,” UMass forward Owen Mehlenbacher said. “We kind of ran them out of their own rink, a little bit, and that’s something that has given us some confidence going into Friday. Knowing that we can beat this team and we have what it takes.”
UMass triumphed against the Warriors at Lawler Rink, 4-2, on Jan. 16.
Should the Minutemen beat Merrimack, they would play the winner of Boston College and UConn on Saturday night.
During Carvel’s tenure, UMass is 2-2 in games played at TD Garden, with its last win coming in the 2022 Hockey East championship game. The 2021 Hockey East playoffs were held at campus sites.
Power Play plus
Merrimack’s power play is, simply put, elite.
The Warriors have the best man-advantage conversion rate in Hockey East (25.6%) and sixth best in the nation — Michigan leads all teams with a 30% clip.
Merrimack scored two power play goals in its victory over the Friars last weekend, including one strike that occurred on a five-minute major power play opportunity.
The Minutemen’s penalty-kill has been one of its trademarks all season long (81.4%) and Carvel is confident in his team, should they get in a situation where they’re down a man.
“We’ve talked about it as a staff that we need to be disciplined because they do have the top power play in Hockey East,” Carvel said.
UMass won’t have to do anything different when it comes to playing disciplined as it allowed the least amount of power-play opportunities to its opposition this season among Hockey East teams with 59.
“The number one thing is discipline,” Minutemen captain Lucas Olvestad said. “We’ve done good, winning the [sportsmanship] award, keep doing that. They have some great players, especially that first line of theirs, they’re hot right now, so neutralizing them [is key].”
Freshman Justin Gill and sophomore Nick Pierre each have seven power-play goals for Merrimack. UMass freshman Vaclav Nestrasil leads UMass with six tucks on the man-advantage.
Third period dogs
The Minutemen have seen numerous areas of their game shine during their impressive run since January, but one aspect that hasn’t been discussed as much as, say, junior goalie Michael Hrabal’s brilliance, is UMass’ third-period performances.
On the season as a whole, the Minutemen have only outscored their opponents, 39-30, in the third period. Dig a little deeper and that statistic becomes far more noteworthy when you isolate that from the start of 2026.
UMass has outscored its opponents by triple (21-7) since the second half began, which Carvel credits as a standard he strives for every season.
“For years that’s been consistent with teams we’ve had over the last seven or eight years,” Carvel said. “We’ve been a very good third-period team. I like to attest that to conditioning and the way we play the game and defensive-mindedness and good goaltending.”
The Warriors, interestingly enough, are the exact opposite as their worst period this season has been the third and it’s not even close. Merrimack outscored its opponents in the first and second periods, but allowed 47 goals in the final frame, compared to its 36 goals scored.
“Teams can’t skate with us the whole time, especially in a series” Mehlenbacher said. “By the sixth period of a weekend, teams are tired and we’re still fresh, we’re still ready to go and I think that’s what’s helping us.”
Red light helpers
Here are the Minutemen’s top six goalscorers of the second half of the season:
Jack Musa (eight), Larry Keenan (six), Justin Kerr (six), Lucas Klecka (four), Cam O’Neill (four) and Olvestad (four).