UMass Hockey took on No. 9 ranked Boston University last weekend in a two game series that saw the Terriers come away with a win in regulation and a win in the shootout. The Minutemen now set their sights on a single game against Northeastern.

Game One

Game one started off promising for the Minutemen as they jumped out to an early one goal lead after forward Ryan Lautenbach scored 46 seconds into the game with the assists coming from defenseman Scott Morrow and forward Lucas Mercuri.

BU regained control of the game and never looked back as they scored two first period goals to take the lead. Defenseman Lane Hutson and forward Macklin Celebrini picked up the goals.

The second and third periods were not much different. The Terriers picked up two more goals from forwards Dylan Peterson and Ryan Greene which made the score 4-1 with 5:27 remaining in the game.

Two minutes after the fourth Terrier goal, forward Taylor Makar scored the second Minutemen goal which was assisted by Mercuri and Lautenbach. They both picked up their second points of the contest.

The game ended with a score of 5-2 after an empty net goal by forward Luke Tuch. Multiple Terriers had a multi-point game. Celebrini and Hutson headlined the win as both earned a goal and two assists. Forwards Jeremy Wilmer and Greene also had a multi-point game of their own.

Freshman goalie Micheal Hrabal put up a solid effort as he stopped 31 shots BU shots. Terrier goalie Mathieu Caron stopped 18 of 20 UMass shots, leading his team to a win.

Game Two

The second game of the series was a more competitive back-and-forth battle as the third period ended in a 3-3 tie. Neither team could score in overtime which sent the game to a shootout. BU won the shootout 1-0 which earned them an extra point in the Hockey East standings.

The Minutemen opened the scoring once again in this game as forward Jack Musa scored on the powerplay just over ten minutes into the first period. Morrow and forward Kenny Connors picked up the assists.

The Terriers and forward Devin Kaplan responded in the second period to tie the game at one apiece.

Late in the second, freshman forward Dans Locmelis scored his first collegiate hockey goal which made the score 2-1. The Latvian native shot the puck right through the five hole of Caron on an unassisted go ahead goal.

Five minutes into the third period, the Terriers responded once again as Celebrini scored his second goal on the weekend to make the score 2-2. 

Forward Aydar Suniev was able to give the Minutemen their third lead of the game off of an incredible top high slot snipe. This made the score 3-2 UMass.

Once again, there was no stopping BU. Celebrini scored his second goal of the game and his third of the weekend to tie the game once again at three apiece. This sent the game into overtime.

After an overtime period full of chances, neither team was able to score. The game went down as a tie in the record books. To award an extra point in the Hockey East standings, a shootout took place after the OT period.

No Minuteman was able to get one past Caron and the Terriers won the shootout 1-0.

Caron had a breakout game. He stopped 38 of 41 UMass shots in a stellar performance. Hrabal stopped 23 of 26 BU shots but it was not enough to stop the Terriers from winning. 

The Minutemen blew three separate leads in the second game but overall UMass played a better game than the night before and improved overall.

UMass came into the weekend ranked No. 19. They were poised to build off of wins over then No. 6 Michigan and then No. 19 Minnesota State but could not get it done. The Minutemen moved up a spot in the rankings, they are now at No. 18 and hope to climb the rankings even more after this Friday’s game against Northeastern.

The Huskies Come to Town

The 2-2 Northeastern Huskies are set to play UMass for the first time this season on Friday night. The Huskies are currently on a two game losing streak after they suffered losses from Merrimack and New Hampshire.

Northeastern is feeling the big losses that are standout goalie Devon Levi and forward Aidan Mcdonough. Both signed their NHL entry level contracts after last season. Both players leave behind big shoes to fill.

In goal for the Huskies will be freshman Cameron Whitehead. The Ontario native has started in all four games for Northeastern so far. He is posting a 2.26 GAA and a .903 SV%. Although the winning record is not there, the young goaltender has most likely done Levi proud so far.

Lack of scoring has been an issue so far for this season’s Northeastern offense. In their last two games, the Huskies have been outscored 8-2. Leading the scoring for NU has been defenseman Vinny Borgesi and forward Cam Lund. Both players have one goal and five assists.

Borgesi assisted on forward Brett Edwards’ first goal as a Husky.

As for UMass, shooting a high amount of shots on net will be key to getting back in the win column. The Huskies have allowed 60 shots on net the past two games. Eight of those shots were able to get past Whitehead.

A Minutemen win is essential when it comes to keeping the UMass hockey season on track before another two game series against Vermont.