STORRS, CT – No. 10 University of Massachusetts men’s ice hockey freshman goaltender Michael Hrabal made a career-high 36 saves, while two more freshmen provided the offense in a 2-0 victory at UConn on Friday night.
With the win, the Minutemen improved to 15-7-3 overall and 8-5-2 in Hockey East, while the Huskies dropped to 12-14-2 overall and 7-10-1 in league action.
“I think the first 40 set them up for the final 20,” said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. “I thought the guys played outstanding. There were only two penalties in the game. I thought our power play looked really good and our PK looked good.
“But, you know, the biggest factor tonight was our goaltender. Michael looked really solid all night long. Again, he makes tough saves look easy, but I really liked our game. The guys followed the game plan really well and then we get two nice goals from two freshmen.”
UMass had the first power-play of the night and fired seven shots with the man advantage in the second period before killing off a penalty to Aydar Suniev moments later as the squads remained deadlocked at 0-0 heading to the third period with identical shot totals.
The Minutemen finally capitalized on a chance deep in the Huskies zone, 2:55 into the third. Junior Scott Morrow picked up the puck from graduate student Samuli Niinisaari and curled down the wall below the goal line before finding freshman Dans Locmelis for the one-timer in the slot that beat netminder Arsenii Sergeev.
Just 18 seconds later, Jack Musa doubled the UMass lead. Sophomores Kenny Connors and Cole O’Hara won a battle for the puck down low, popping it free for Musa, who then buried his 10th of the season.
With 3:13 to play in the contest, Sergeev went to the bench for an extra attacker for UConn. The Minutemen’s defense held firm to secure their third straight-road victory and Hrabal’s second shutout of his rookie season.
The Huskies ended the night with a 36-31 edge in shots on goal, while both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play. Sergeev had 29 saves for UConn.
UMass and UConn will close out their season series on Saturday at 7 p.m. inside the Mullins Center, which will be aired live on NESN.
