BOSTON — UMass hockey head coach Greg Carvel values scoring chances more than shots on goal. On Friday afternoon against Merrimack in the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden, the Minutemen had the lion’s share of chances, the puck just never found the back of the net.
The Warriors, on the other hand, were opportunistic and took advantage of one of UMass’ only miscues of the contest, breaking the deadlock on a partial breakaway three minutes into the third period.
Merrimack may not have dominated Friday’s win-or-go-home clash, but they didn’t need to as the eighth-seeded Warriors tamed the second-seeded Minutemen, 2-0, to advance to Saturday’s Hockey East Championship.
“I thought we had enough chances to score,” Carvel said. “Both teams play the game heavy and do a go job staying above the puck. We had chances to score, it’s not like we didn’t have chances.”
UMass’ chances can be traced back to the first period as it was awarded the first two power plays of the game. The Minutemen’s season-long woes on the man-advantage reared their ugly head at the Garden though as they only contributed two shots on goal in the four minutes of PP time.
UMass finished the season at 19% on the power play.
Before the first intermission arrived, Jack Musa nearly buried one backdoor on an egregious turnover from the Warriors in the own zone, but the puck sailed over Merrimack’s cross-bar.
The Minutemen nearly converted on a couple scrambles around Warriors goalie Max Lundgren during the second period, but yet again, a magnet appeared to be inside the rubber disk as it would not glide across the goal line.
Merrimack’s early tally in the third forced UMass to play even more desperate, which in turn, caused Musa’s chances to skyrocket in the final frame.
The junior earned multiple, grade-A looks in the slot throughout the final 17 minutes, but Lundgren had his number, getting his body on the puck each time.
“We should have been able to recover,” Carvel said on the Warriors’ opening goal.
“It’s tough when, basically, the one goal of the game is kind of created by us,” Carvel added.
The Minutemen’s top line of Musa, Jack Galanek and Vaclav Nestrasil generated seven shots on goal, but, for what felt like the first time of 2026, luck was not on their side.
The third period had been UMass’ best of the second half–outscored opponents 21-7 entering Friday’s game–and Merrimack’s worst, but the script flipped at the worst possible time for the Minutemen.
“We lost four games in the second half and three of them were 1-0,” Carvel said. “That was very similar to a couple of the other losses that we had.
“I liked our game,” Carvel said. “I thought we had enough chances. Our best players had the pucks on their stick to score goals, just couldn’t find a way to get one past their goalie, who played particularly well.”