“Outstanding job bour 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 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. I’m very proud of this team. This team was .500 in January, and they just keep getting better, they’re building confidence and they know how to win games. I’ve been here 10 years here now, and this is another group that I’m very proud of that’s learned how to play the game the right way. They play for each other, and they play hard, and they play with integrity, and they’re learning how to how to do things the right way and get rewarded for it.”
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.
As it appeared the teams would be heading to the third still deadlocked at a goal apiece. Musa put the Minutemen back on top with his 16th goal of the season at 19:36. Freshman Jack Galanek sent a pass to Nestrašil down low that he tapped over to Musa. Musa curled out to the faceoff circle, collected his own rebound off an initial shot and found the top left corner of the net.
The Minutemen added insurance 4:08 into the third period when Galanek won a puck battle in the corner and found Musa alone in the slot. Instead of taking the close-range chance, Musa dropped a pass back to Nestrašil for the finish.
Junior Cam O’Neill capped the scoring at the 19:32 mark with an empty net goal from freshman Lukáš Klecka and Justin Kerr.
Northeastern ended the contest with a 31-27 edge in shots and both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play.
Goaltender Michael Hrabal finished the afternoon with 30 saves, while his counterpart, Lawton Zacher turned aside 23 shots.
UMass will await its opponent for next Friday’s Hockey East Semifinal. Game times will be announced at the conclusion of the quarterfinal round.
