The No. 20 UMass hockey team will look to build upon its definitive win against Providence last weekend when it hosts Harvard and Vermont this Friday and Sunday at the Mullins Center.
The Minutemen downed the 10th-ranked Friars, 5-1, after failing to win their previous three games. UMass will return for two in Amherst for its first weekend without a road game all season long.
“I didn’t mind the way we played at all at UVM,” Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel said of an 0-1-1 weekend in Burlington earlier this month. “Our goaltending let us down a little bit but we just couldn’t put the puck in the back of the net. I didn’t mind the way we played. To me it’s not a systems adjustment against them, we got to work a little harder to put the puck in the back of the net, and get a little better goaltending.”
UMass is still searching for its first win on home ice as it has posted an 0-2-1 mark at Mullins.
“We’ve been on the road a lot so we want to be bringing wins to the Mullins,” UMass junior Cole O’Hara said. “We haven’t been doing too good there. I think the biggest thing is winning some home games and stacking wins together.”
Carvel and his staff switched things up in the Minutemen net last weekend, opting for Jackson Irving and Michael Hrabal to each take a game during the Providence series.
Irving took the loss, but moved confidently in his crease and finished with 26 saves in the first meeting. Hrabal bounced back with a 34-save performance in Rhode Island after a shaky outing in Vermont the week prior.
“If I can get a goaltender to give me a .920 save percentage, that’s all I’ve ever asked for as a coach,” Carvel said. “It is asking a lot maybe, but [Hrabal] should be capable of that, he played outstanding.
“The decision to go with [Hrabal] on Saturday wasn’t that difficult,” Carvel said. “He had a good week of practice, I think he won two games at Providence last year, then he won again, so that’s why we made that decision.”
Harvard comes to town first on Friday, with a 2-2-1 record. The Crimson have played some fiercely talented opponents in the United States National Development team, Boston University, Quinnipiac and Cornell, without taking a loss in any of those games.
Mick Thompson has five points in five games to lead Harvard skaters in points, while Aku Koskenvuo has backstopped the Crimson in all five games, compiling a 2.16 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.
The Minutemen will get a day to rest before their rematch against the Catamounts on Sunday. UMass tied and then lost to UVM at Gutterson Fieldhouse Nov. 8-9.
Vermont followed up its five-point weekend against UMass with back-to-back losses against UMass Lowell.
“This year we knew we had a young defense,” Carvel said. “At the beginning of the year we made a lot of mistakes, gave up a lot of odd-man rushes. That’s changed, we hardly have given up any in the last couple weekends. Then it was the goaltending and the last couple games we’ve got outstanding goaltending. Then it was scoring, we couldn’t score. If we put those three things together, and I say this all the time, limit the other team to two and we’ll score three.”
Puck drop for Friday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m.