The UMass hockey team will look to get back on track with a weekend home-and-home against No. 10 Providence, starting Thursday at the Mullins Center.

The Minutemen went winless in Vermont last weekend, which dropped them out of the USCHO national rankings, following a tie and shutout loss to the Catamounts.

“I think we're just trying to stay level-headed,” UMass senior forward Lucas Mercuri said. “Obviously there's a little bit of frustration with not coming up with the points but we out-chanced the opponent. Credit to UVM, they played well, but we can't look at it as a moral victory. We got to just put one foot in front of the other and keep going. But yeah it's a little frustrating and [we’re] hoping to turn it around this weekend."

Following last Friday night’s draw, goaltending proved to be the difference during Saturday’s rematch as Minutemen sophomore goaltender Michael Hrabal allowed two goals on four UVM shots in the first 14:14 of action. Hrabal was replaced by Jackson Irving for the remainder of the game after the Catamounts’ second first-period strike.

“He's been challenged. He's been challenged a few times this year,” Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel said on Hrabal. “I think with him, there's been stretches where I've seen good improvement, stretches where there hasn't been and there hasn't been enough improvement this year. I thought the second semester last year there was a lot of growth in his game, he was inconsistent in the first half, and he's been inconsistent the first half of this year.”

Hrabal, the 38th overall selection in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes (now Utah Hockey Club), has a 4-4-2 record with a 2.88 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in 10 games. As a freshman, the 6-foot-6 goalie had a 2.59 GAA, a .912 SV% and a 16-12-1 record.

“He's a good kid, he wants to be guided and we're doing our best to guide him, and I have no doubt that he'll do his best to reach for the higher standards that we're asking of him," Carvel said.

Thursday’s matchup with the Friars will count as just the third time UMass has laced them up at Mullins Center during the regular season. The Minutemen started the 2024-25 campaign with eight of its first 10 games on the road, including a pair of games in Las Vegas for the Ice Breaker Tournament.

“I think that stretch is good, creates some adversity for our guys,” Mercuri said. “Playing on the road is good, builds a little bit of character, but I think we're all happy to be playing at home here. I think it was two games out of 10 that we played at home so it'll be nice to play in front of the UMass fans and stuff so that'll be good.”

Five of UMass’ next seven games before the winter break will be played in Amherst.

Providence enters the set as the top team in Hockey East with a 6-1-2 overall record. The Friars are undefeated in Hockey East play, despite needing overtime in both of their games against Northeastern last weekend.

“We haven't played them yet so I don't know how I'm supposed to know much about them. But yeah, it's kind of like us and Lowell, and Providence, every game seems to be low scoring, very similar styles,” Carvel said. “I think Providence, I know they brought in a really good recruiting class. I think their depth is probably better than ours, but I can't really comment until we play them and get a better feel.”

Providence’s eight-man freshman class is currently highlighted by Will Elger, who has eight points in eight games, while Trevor Connelly (seven points in four games) and Logan Sawyer (five points in eight games) round out its top three first-year scorers.

Boston Bruins draft pick Philip Svedeback has started six games in goal for the Friars and has amassed a 4-1-1 record with a 2.44 GAA and a .919 SV%.

“I don't even know what the rankings are, I'm just trying to focus on getting our team back on the right foot here,” Mercuri said. “Obviously, Providence is highly ranked but we're coming in as underdogs so we kind of got to have that underdog mentality. Same thing as last year when we played them around this time, we were underdogs, so hopefully looking for the same result.”

The Minutemen went 3-0 against Providence last season. They’ve won four in a row against the Friars overall and are 7-3 in their last 10 meetings.

Puck drop for Thursday’s contest is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the teams will play against in Providence, R.I. on Saturday.

Sobieski no longer with the program

Freshman defenseman Kaz Sobieski is no longer with the program, though Carvel and the school had no further comment about the situation on Tuesday.

The Deerfield native who played high school hockey at famed Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn., appeared in five games this season with three blocked shots. His bio on the UMass athletics website was removed earlier this week.

Prior to his time with the Minutemen, Sobieski played for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League. He committed to UMass in 2021 before arriving this fall.