AMHERST — Cole O’Hara tied a career-high in points in the UMass hockey team’s 5-2 win over Merrimack on Saturday.

The junior forward had a hat trick, plus an assist, for four points in the Minutemen’s first victory at home against a Hockey East opponent this season.

“[O’Hara’s] shot, as you saw tonight, is lethal,” UMass head coach Greg Carvel said. “I thought [Jack] Musa was really good tonight too, really competed, played fast, all over the pucks, made plays. Whoever plays with [Lucas] Mercuri seems to have good games and [O’Hara] was a star with the puck tonight.”

Jack Musa earned the primary assist on two of O’Hara’s three goals. The top-line wingers appear to have complimentary playing styles and it was on full display against the Warriors.

“He’s a great player, plays with a lot of speed,” O’Hara said regarding his linemate. “His smarts is kind of his best attribute. He’s a fun player to play with and we have good chemistry.”

Jackson Irving started in net for the Minutemen and totaled 26 saves. Michael Hrabal played Friday night on the road and despite getting the loss, Carvel said the decision to put Irving in wasn’t a direct result of the defeat.

“It was more a reflection of a team decision, not an individual,” Carvel said. “At the same time, [Hrabal] goes and he has a very emotional ride in Ottawa. He comes back and not surprisingly gives us a great game … he’s worn down a little bit.

“I was expecting to play [Irving] at some point,” Carvel said. “I was thinking maybe next weekend with the non-conference games but it was a combination of thinking, maybe now’s the right time to give [Hrabal] a night, catch his breath, give the team a little wake-up call, because we needed it.”

Francesco Dell’Elce finished with a team-high five shots on goal. His shot-first mentality came in handy on the first power play unit, and helped UMass go 3-for-4 up a man on Saturday.

“Our game plan was to get pucks on net and win those net-front battles, so that’s kind of our mindset as a group,” Dell’Elce said.

The Minutemen hadn’t converted on its last 11 power play opportunities entering Saturday’s showdown and Carvel switched up his usual five-forward unit with a defenseman in Dell’Elce.

UMass’ leading scorer Aydar Suniev left the game during the second period and did not return. Suniev fell awkwardly into the boards and looked to be favoring his left leg when exiting the ice.

Carvel said after the game it’s a lower-body injury and that he thinks Suniev will “probably be out for a little while.”

O’Hara’s first of the night came at 13:43 of the first period on a wicked wrister that trickled past Warriors goalie Max Lundgren (25 saves). O’Hara took a pass from Jack Musa in stride and ripped it glove side to put UMass out front, 1-0.

Mercuri quickly pushed the Minutemen lead to 2-0 less than two minutes later on a power play redirection. Mercuri got a piece of O’Hara’s shot from the point from just outside the crease at 15:06 of the first.

“We weren’t too pleased with our game [Friday] and the biggest thing was we wanted to get on them early and I think we sustained it for a full 60, which is good,” O’Hara said.

In its first man-advantage of the second, O’Hara tucked in his 11th of the year following a wacky bounce behind the Merrimack net. O’Hara’s third point of the night produced the Minutemen’s third goal, and it wound up being the game-winner.

O’Hara’s third and final goal was a missile from the right faceoff dot that no goalie was stopping. The Nashville Predators draft pick went bardown as UMass was in control midway through the third period ahead, 4-0

Tyler Young netted both of Merrimack’s goals during the third to put a bit of a scare into the Minutemen, but Michael Cameron iced it with an empty-net tally with 11 seconds to go.

O’Hara surpassed 30 points with his impressive outing as the Richmond Hill, Ontario native has 31 points in 23 games played.

“We talked a lot about getting to the net and scoring on the power play and we scored on the power play and did a good job around the net,” Carvel said. “Jackson Irving once again comes in and gives us a really good game when we need him to so a lot of positives tonight.”