UMass Men’s Hockey Streaks Towards Quarterfinals With Thrilling 3-2 Victory Over Northeastern!

AMHERST – The No. 15 University of Massachusetts men’s hockey never trailed in its final game at the Mullins Center of 2025-26, defeating Northeastern 4-1 in the Hockey East quarterfinal round on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Minutemen (22-12-1) earned a spot in next week’s semifinal round at TD Garden in Boston.

“Outstanding job by our team tonight,” said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. “I thought the first period was really even, but as the game wore on, I really liked our game. I thought it was an advantage that we did not play on Wednesday, and they had to.

I think as the game wore on, you could see that and feel that. I thought we played a really good defensive game, didn’t allow a lot of entries with possession, kept them on the outside, and followed our game plan extremely well. ” UMass jumped out to an early lead as junior Jack Musa and freshman Václav Nestrašil sent the puck up the boards to sophomore Larry Keenan at the left point, and Keenan flung it towards goal and through a screen to give the Minutemen a 1-0 advantage at the 3:37 mark.

Northeastern managed to tie the score at one in the closing moments before the first intermission. Joe Connor sent a centering feed from below the goal line out to Griffin Erdman at the doorstep for the equalizer at 18:39. Austen May earned an assist on the play as well.