AMHERST — Inconsistency continues to mar the No. 17 UMass hockey team as it allowed four goals during the third period in its 5-1 loss to No. 16 Providence at Mullins Center on Saturday night.
The Minutemen trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes despite being thoroughly outshot by the Friars, 22-3, during the second period, yet appeared to be tilting the ice back in their favor once sophomore forward James Duerr evened the score at 1-1 with a dazzling goal, four minutes, 35 seconds into the third.
However, Roger McQueen, Providence’s prized freshman recruit, dispelled UMass’ good vibes later in the frame as the 10th overall pick to the Anaheim Ducks in last summer’s NHL draft factored into the Friars’ next two goals (goal, primary assist), turning the Minutemen’s comeback bid into a 3-1 hole.
The visitors would add two more into the UMass cage before the final horn sounded, dropping the Minutemen to 8-7-0 on the season.
“We had a lot of guys tonight who didn’t have their ‘A’ game,” UMass head coach Greg Carvel said. “And we felt that if we could just…it’s a 1-0 game, at home, and we haven’t played well, so we got more in the tank. That line, I thought, played pretty well, our fourth line. Gave us some good shifts in the second when we were getting dominated.
“[Duerr’s] goal was outstanding, gave us a lot of energy and we were going,” Carvel continued. “[Providence’s] second goal, we got guys back and above and got to be heavier and harder there and we weren’t and its in the back of the net.”
Saturday’s defeat resulted in another series split for the Minutemen as they took the first game on Thursday with a 2-1 overtime win in Rhode Island.
The Friars struck first on Saturday on a goal from Julius Sumpf at 17:38 of the second period. UMass took an icing after Providence had the hosts hemmed in its own zone and on the ensuing faceoff, Sumpf snapped the puck past Minutemen goalie Jackson Irving (40 saves), rewarding the Friars with the 1-0 lead.
UMass netted the equalizer less than five minutes into the third with Duerr’s first of the season. The Chicago native received a buddy pass from junior Jack Musa toward the top of the left faceoff circle with his back to Providence goalie Philip Svedeback (19 saves), spun around 180 degrees, pulled the puck back to his forehand and then picked the top right corner, dragging UMass back in the game with the 1-1 tally.
Duerr didn’t play in the series opener versus the Friars and hasn’t managed to stick in the Minutemen lineup for consecutive games since dressing for the first five games of the season.
“It’s been both a good thing and definitely a struggle being in and out of the lineup,” Duerr said on the competition within UMass’ bottom-six forward unit. “It’s nice that we have a such a good bottom-six. Guys can go in and out and if you’re not at your best every night, then you’re not going to play.”
Unfortunately for the Minutemen, McQueen put Providence back on top, dangling around senior captain Lucas Olvestad in the right circle and firing it low, blocker side past Irving for a 2-1 Friars advantage.
“It starts with me personally, kind of just have to make a better play on that second [Providence] goal,” Olvestad said. “I feel like after that, we lost a little bit of energy there. Keeping our heads up and staying dialed in on the gameplan, I think that game would’ve went a different way.”
Providence potted another about three minutes after McQueen’s go-ahead goal, as Beau Jelsma cleaned up a juicy Iriving rebound from the slot, off McQueen’s initial shot, extending the Friars’ lead to 3-1.
Providence pushed its lead to 4-1, 23 seconds later, on a Logan Sawyer goal before Quinn Mantei iced the game with a lengthy empty-netter as the Friars upped their record to 6-5-2 with the victory.
“We weren’t playing a great game, but it was 0-0 near the end of the second period and made a poor puck decision to take an icing, [then a] faceoff, goal,” Carvel said. “We came out in the third and actually started playing. We got a great goal from James Duerr. We started to get some momentum, and then their McQueen kid walked right through our defense and scored, things fell apart from there.”
Carvel tried shuffling some of the forward lines during Saturday’s third period, hoping to spark UMass’ offense. The most noticeable change came between the first and third forward lines as Musa swapped with junior Bos Cosman.
“I thought that Musa, [Justin] Kerr and [Nick] VanTassell gave us our best chance to score a goal, so I put those three together,” Carvel said.
The Minutemen find themselves in last place in Hockey East (2-5-0, five points) with just three games to go before the winter break.
Saturday’s contest also counted as UMass’ final home game of 2025. The Minutemen went 5-5 at Mullins to start the season.
UMass will have one game next weekend when it travels to West Point, New York to take on Army.
Puck drop at Tate Rink is scheduled for 4 p.m.