The UMass hockey team has stacked up wins to begin its second-half schedule. The Minutemen are 5-1 since the start of 2026, with all five wins coming in consecutive fashion.
UMass’ strong play has catapulted its record up to 14-10-0, its positioning in the Hockey East standings into a tie for sixth place (21 points) and its NPI rankings (the metric used to determine who makes the NCAA Tournament) to 21st overall.
All of a sudden, the Minutemen appear to be poised for another late-season surge to the postseason after a mediocre opening three months of the season. UMass went 11-5-3 over the back half of the 2024-25 season to claim a NCAA Tournament berth and a similar story looks to be unfolding again this year.
“I really challenged them after Christmas,” Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel said. “Our checking details, the integrity of our game, I felt strongly that we could be a good defensive team and they’ve all bought into it. They’ve got an identity right now as a team that can win without their A-game by playing really solid defense and getting great goaltending. The five-game win streak allows for confidence to build.”
UMass’ first opponent this week, Northeastern, has nosedived as the Huskies have won just twice throughout their seven-game second-half slate. The Minutemen’s fourth and final regular season matchup against Northeastern will take place Friday at the Mullins Center at 7 p.m.
Then UMass will get a day off before embarking on a three-game, mini-series against intrastate rival UMass Lowell. The Riverhawks are quickly falling out of the NCAA Tournament picture at 9-16-0 and haven’t won more than two straight games at any point this season.
Still, given the nature of the upcoming contests against UML–which is scheduled to begin on Sunday at the Tsongas Center at 3:30 p.m.–Carvel expects a spirited series versus the always-dangerous Riverhawks.
“There’s going to be bad blood, there’s no way around it,” Carvel said. “It’s hard enough when you play a team twice.”
O’NEIL ON THE COME UP
Junior forward Cam O’Neil set a new career-high in points (eight) following his three-point contest against the Catamounts last Friday.
The fifth-round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2022 is part of the Minutemen’s recent fourth-line emergence that has scored four goals in the past four games.
“On the ice, this is just recently, we met a couple weeks ago, he asked to meet with me, at one point he was the extra forward and I told him what I needed from him and he’s delivered,” Carvel said. “We needed it, we needed depth scoring. I feel bad for him because he’s dealt with injuries his whole time here, he’s never been able to build momentum, but I feel like he’s building some right now.”
O’Neil, an Odenton, Maryland native, was one of a few UMass upperclassmen forwards who elected to return this season–along with juniors Jack Musa and Nick VanTassell–and Carvel shed light on the impact the 6-foot, 198-pounder has within the Minutemen’s locker room.
“I know he’s an important part of our locker room, he’s part of our leadership group, I know his voice carries weight in the locker room,” Carvel said.
FINAL BOSS HRABAL
Junior goalie Michael Hrabal has flipped the switch.
UMass’ starting goalie has been nearly unbeatable since the team returned from break. Here’s some numbers to back that claim:
-173 saves on 177 shots for a .977 save-percentage in six games
– 0.67 goals-against average
– three shutouts
– 11th-best save-percentage in the nation (.926), third best in Hockey East
The Prague, Czechia native didn’t allow a goal during the Minutemen’s sweep against Vermont last weekend, which earned him Hockey East’s Boston Children’s Hospital Player of the Week award.
There’s a saying in hockey that you’re only as good as your goalie and if that is the case, UMass is sitting pretty in that department as the push for the postseason draws closer.