It’s no secret that the Massachusetts hockey team plays close games against intra-state rival Merrimack.
UMass won all four meetings last season by a single goal, including twice in overtime. Over the weekend, the teams split a pair of overtime contests during a home-and-home series, with the Minutemen winning 3-2 on their home sheet on Friday night before the Warriors returned the favor 2-1 the next night in North Andover.
It was the Hockey East opener for UMass. The teams are slated to meet once more this season, Dec. 7 in Amherst.
The close games versus Merrimack likely set the tone for the Minutemen as they begin conference play. Their string of recent success — winners of two straight conference tournament championships, plus an NCAA championship in 2021 — means UMass knows it will get every team’s best effort every night.
“I don’t think (about) a target on our back,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said following Friday night’s game against Merrimack. “These guys know there’s a standard of play that if we play (up to it), we’ll be fine. If not, we’re going to have to scratch and claw like we did tonight.”
The Minutemen are 5-1-1 overall and enter this weekend ranked No. 5 in the latest DCU/USCHO.com D-I men’s poll. Five of their next six games are against ranked teams, starting this weekend with a home-and-home series versus No 14 Providence that begins Friday at the Friars’ home rink.
“Hockey East games are a lot harder; we have to be prepared for that,” said sophomore defenseman Ryan Ufko, who scored a goal and assisted Taylor Makar on the game winner at 1:12 of overtime vs. Merrimack on Friday night. “They’re going to get up, they’re going to come out flying at us. Every team is this year, especially in Hockey East. I think we need to realize that and play really hard.”
Makar, a sophomore forward, recorded an assist on the first goal vs. Merrimack on Friday night (scored by Ryan Lautenbach) and has three on the season so far.
“He creates the first goal, he wins the battle,” Carvel said about Makar. “He’s using his size and his speed and he’s not exposing pucks. (His) size (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) is tough to deal with. That’s what we’ve been trying to convince him of — that he has those assets. He’s got to maximize them, and he has been. The last number of games, he’s becoming a big factor and that’s huge for us.”
Sophomore Luke Pavicich has the majority of the Minutemen’s starts at goalie. He’s 4-0-1 so far and has posted a .956 save percentage to go along with a 1.41 goals-against average. Makar said it helps the offense to have a confident goalie behind it.
“This team’s had that for a lot of years,” Makar said. “It’s really nice — any mistake you make, hopefully he’s there to save it. (Pavlich’s) been doing a great job — all three goalies, actually.”
Juniors Henry Graham and Cole Brady also have seen solid playing time between the pipes for UMass — collectively, the goaltending unit boasts an overall 1.26 GAA and a .961 save percentage.
Things don’t get much easier for the Minutemen in November — following the Providence series is a home-and-home vs. No. 11 Boston University, a game at New Hampshire followed by a trip to Ireland for the Friendship Four tournament, where they will face No. 7 UMass Lowell and possibly No. 7 Quinnipiac.
