UMass men’s hockey shutout by Merrimack, falls in Hockey East semifinals
BOSTON - UMass goalie Michael Hrabal was the Hockey East Player of the Year, but Merrimack’s Max Lundgren was the tender of the hour. The junior from Angelholm, Sweden set aside 24 shots to lift No. 8 seed Merrimack to a 2-0 victory over No.
2 seed UMass in the Hockey East semifinal on Friday night at the TD Garden. Lundgren captured his 20 th win with his first shutout of the season and he leads the NCAA with 1,060 saves. Hrabal finished with 27 saves.
“I have played against Hrabal a lot and it has always been a great battle to play against him,” said Lundgren. “It is always a challenge because he is a very talented goalkeeper and I just had the mentality to go in there and beat him. When he won the player of the year it gives you an extra boost to go in and win the game.
” Merrimack advanced to the semifinals with an improbable 3-2, overtime victory over No. 1 seed Providence on March 14 at Schneider. The Warriors improved to 20-15-2 overall and 11-12-2 in Hockey East and became the first No.
8 seed to reach the championship game. Merrimack will face UConn in the title game on Saturday night at 7 p. m.