UMass men aim to defend Hockey East Tournament title after dispatching UMass Lowell
“It was not quite but it is playoff time,” explained Amherst coach Greg Carvel, whose defending national champions will face Connecticut in the final Saturday night time. “You win and you shift on.”
Win or eliminate, the Minutemen (21-12-2) have sewn up a return ticket to the NCAAs primarily based on their system of do the job, which incorporated a demanding nonconference slate.
Lowell (21-10-3), which previous qualified for the nationals in 2017, still has a opportunity to make the 16-workforce field but desires the ECAC and CCHA finals to go its way to get off the bubble.
Amherst allow the normal-period crown slip away by getting rid of twice to Boston College on the ultimate weekend. But as before long as the playoffs began the Minutemen reverted to the locked-and-loaded form that set rings on their fingers past calendar year.
They defeat Providence by two targets in the quarters and promptly brought the River Hawks to ground in the to start with time period, scoring 2 times in a span of 1 minute 43 seconds.
Garrett Wait around created the first on the energy engage in at 12:27, deftly batting in a rebound amid a scrum. Then he set up captain Bobby Trivigno, the league’s player of the 12 months, who cruised left, turned, and snapped a wrister to the significantly side at 14:10. Thus did UML trail by two targets irrespective of outshooting UMass, 11-6.
But equally sides realized that was an aberration in this rivalry. All 3 of their conferences this season ended up made the decision by just one purpose — two gained by Amherst in regulation, 1 received by Lowell in a shootout.
So when Matt Crasa redirected Nick Austin’s shot from the suitable issue at 16:37 of the 2nd interval even though becoming upended in the goalmouth, the River Hawks ended up quite considerably back again in it. Then in a blink, they weren’t.
Crasa, who evidently was trying to immediate the puck towards goalie Owen Savory, set it by way of his legs at 13:00 of the 3rd. “I’m not positive what that a single was,” explained Lowell mentor Norm Bazin. “It’s a rough one particular to explain.”
The delighted benefactor was Jerry Harding, the very last UMass participant to contact the puck, who was credited with his first goal of the period. It was unconventional, but it was huge.
The Minutemen went on to near points out, as they’ve usually accomplished against Lowell in the playoffs. But they had to sweat for it, checking fiercely, blocking pictures, performing what they knew it would choose towards just one hard department.
“I have incredible regard for that workforce,” said Carvel. “To me they are the hardest group in our league to conquer. They are a huge, large, potent workforce. “
The River Hawks are quite substantially like the western varsities that Amherst outbattled very last 12 months to win their very first nationwide crown. So the Minutemen are well prepped for who’ll they’ll experience in a reprise later this thirty day period.
And Lowell now has to root for Amherst to defeat UConn and hope that Harvard doesn’t conquer Quinnipiac in the ECAC last and that Bemidji Condition does not upset top-ranked Minnesota Condition in the CCHA.
“I like this team a good deal and I hope we get to participate in yet another match,” claimed Bazin. “Because I feel we have a greater match than what we confirmed listed here tonight.”
John Powers can be attained at [email protected].