There couldn’t be much more riding on the UMass hockey team’s game at 4 p.m. Saturday night.
If they lose to Providence in the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinals in Rhode Island, their 2023-24 season is likely over. The Minutemen and Friars are on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. PC is ranked No. 14 in the all-important Pairwise rankings, and UMass is No. 15. If the Minutemen win they’d likely switch places.
- Fans looking to watch this game can do so with ESPN+. ESPN+ plans are $10.99 a month or $12.99 a month if you bundle with Hulu and Disney+.
If they win, UMass would advance to the Hockey East semifinals next weekend at TD Garden. That wouldn’t assure them an NCAA Tournament slot, but it would move them much closer.
“It’s win or go home,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “We’ve got to win. It’s desperation time. We put ourselves in this situation. We only have ourselves to blame or we can pull ourselves out of it.”
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The Minutemen (19-12-3, 12-10-2 Hockey East) beat Providence, 3-2 and 2-1 in overtime in their regular season meetings back in November. UMass is 8-7 this season on the road, while PC is 10-4-3 in Schneider Arena. The Friars are 18-12-4 and 11-9-4 in Hockey East.
It’ll be the first postseason game for UMass goalie Michael Hrabel, who as named to the Hockey East All-Second Team. Defenseman Ryan Ufko was named to the first team, while Scott Morrow landed on the third.
