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University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Bentley
Hockey Opens 2024-25 Campaign At Bentley Saturday
October 03, 2024 | Hockey
| Games 1-2 | #14 Massachusetts Minutemen (0-0-0, 0-0-0 HE) at Bentley Falcons (0-0-0) #14 Massachusetts Minutemen (0-0-0, 0-0-0 HE) vs. RPI (0-0-0) (EXHIBITION) |
| Dates | Times | Saturday, October 5, 2024 | 7:00 p.m. Sunday, October 6, 2024 | 3:00 p.m. |
| Locations | Waltham, Mass. (Bentley) Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center) |
| Series History | Bentley: Series tied 1-1-0 RPI: UMass leads 12-4-1 |
| Live Statistics | Sidearm | StatBroadcast |
| Watch Live | FloHockey (Saturday) |
| Listen (Radio) | WHMP FM 101.5, AM 1400 |
| Listen (Online) | WHMP Streaming Player | App: Download The Varsity Sports Network on your mobile device |
| Game Notes | Massachusetts | Bentley |
| Team Records | Massachusetts | Bentley |
| @UMassHockey | @UMassAthletics | |
| UMass Hockey | UMass Athletics | |
| Tickets | Saturday | Sunday: Free, Non-Ticketed Event |
STATE OF THE U
- University of Massachusetts hockey has youthful roster in its ninth season under head coach Greg Carvel in 2024-25 as the squad is comprised of 16 returning letterwinners and 12 newcomers, which includes 17 freshmen and sophomores.Â
- UMass saw the bulk of its roster turnover on its back end from a year ago, losing three experienced blueliners to graduation and juniors Scott Morrow and Ryan Ufko to professional hockey. Morrow and Ufko provided almost 20% of the team's points last season with Morrow leading UMass in scoring with 30 points (6g, 24a) and Ufko chipping in 26 points (10g, 16a) which was good for third on the team. Linden Alger returns for a fifth season and will provide a veteran presence on the Minutemen's back end after serving as Ufko's partner on UMass' No. 1 "D" pairing last season. Junior Owen Murray, who was a regular in the lineup as a sophomore and provided 10 points (2g, 8a) a year ago should see yet another bump in his ice time in 2024-25. To help recoup its defensive losses, the Minutemen have added transfer Lucas Ölvestad who is fresh off a National Championship with Denver. UMass has also added 2023 Red Wings' fourth round draft pick Larry Keenan, highlighting a group of five freshmen blueliners.
- The Minutemen return seven of their top nine scorers from last season, including Jack Musa and Aydar Suniev who put up 29 and 25-point seasons respectively as freshmen in 2024-25 and tied for the team lead in goal scoring with 12 apiece. In total, UMass brings back 11 members of its forward group from a year ago and adds four newcomers, including graduate transfer Joey Musa.- In net Michael Hrabal returns for his sophomore campaign after starting 29 of 37 games as a freshman. He will be backed up by classmate Jackson Irving and freshman James Norton.
SUMMER SUCCESS
- Following his 2023-24 season with the Minutemen, Dans Locmelis took the ice for Latvia in the Olympic Games Qualification this summer, posting a goal and an assist in three games to help his nation earn a spot in the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics.
TRENDING…
- During the 2023-24 season, the Minutemen were…
- 8-3-2 following a loss
- 15-9-2 in games played in the home state of Massachusetts
- 5-8-0 in games with 5000+ fans
- 19-5-3 when holding opponents to 3 or fewer goals
- 7-2-2 when scoring 3 or more goalsÂ
- 8-6-2 when outshooting their opponents
RAIN OR SHINE
- Among players returning to the Minutemen for the 2024-25 season, five players played in all 37 games during the 2023-24 season: Kenny Connors, Ryan Lautenbach, Lucas Mercuri, Jack Musa, and Cole O'Hara.
THE MORE THE MERRIER
- In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, the Minutemen set a program record for the most goals scored against a Division I program in an 11-2 win over Alaska Anchorage on December 8, 2023.Â
- Among the top scorers for the Minutemen, Aydar Suniev led the way with five points with fellow linemates Jack Musa and Dans Locmelis collecting two and three points, respectively.Â
- Jackson Irving also made his colligate debut, stopping all six shots faced in 8:50 of game time. - Suniev's five points marked the most points by a UMass freshman in a single game in the program's DI era.
NUMBER FOUR IS MONTOUR
- After posting 33 points (8g, 25a) during the 2023-24 season, UMass hockey alumnus Brandon Montour hoisted his first career Stanley Cup, the fourth Minuteman to do so and the seventh Stanley Cup for a Minuteman overall.
- Moutour, a second-round selection of the Anaheim Ducks in 2014, spent the 2014-2015 season with the Minutemen, earning Hockey East All-Rookie team honors after scoring 20 points (3g, 17a) in 21 games.Â
ON THE RISE
Among the tenured Minutemen returning for the 2024-25 season, the following players posted career highs during the 2023 campaign:
- Linden Alger (C), 2g, 4pts, +5
- Ryan Lautenbach (A), 10g, 14a, 24pts, +2
- Lucas Mercuri (A), 9g, 16a, 25pts
- Owen Murray, 2g, 7a, 9pts
- Cole O'Hara, 7g, 18pts
HRA-BALLIN'
The second-highest Minutemen ever selected in the NHL Entry Draft at 38th overall, Michael Hrabal's highly anticipated freshman season landed him on the Hockey East Second Team All-Star squad, the first UMass goalie to do so in their rookie campaign.
- Over 29 games played, Hrabal posted a 2.62 GAA and a .912 save percentage with a 16-12-1 record. He was named Hockey East's Goaltender of the Week three times during the 2023 season (10/23, 11/20, 2/12).Â
- Hrabal was named a Top 3 Player for Czechia during the 2023-24 World Junior Championships. Entering the 2024 season, Elite Prospects named Hrabal the fourth-ranked prospect of the Utah Hockey Club and the 11th-ranked NHL-affiliated goaltender.Â
LONG TIME NO SEE
- In their first meeting since 2011, the Minutemen face off against Bentley to kick off the 2024 campaign; UMass is 1-1-0 all-time against the Falcons.Â
- Among Bentley's connections to Amherst, Head Coach Andy Jones is a former player and graduate of Amherst College (00').Â
- All three of the Falcons' 20+ point scorers return to the team this season: Ethan Leyh (13g, 16a, 29p), Stephen Castagna (6g, 21a, 27p), and Nick Bochen (6g, 18a, 24p), and 22 players in total.Â
- Among the returners, Leyn and Bochen earned Atlantic Hockey all-conference honors last season.Â
GRADE-AÂ
- Among UMass' 22 Hockey East All-Academic Team recipients from the 2023-24 season, 12 return to the squad this season with Jackson Irving, Kennedy O'Connor, Linden Alger, Cam O'Neill, Lucas Mercuri, Ryan Lautenbach, Aydar Suniev, Kenny Connors, Owen Murray, Michael Cameron, Bo Cosman and Michael Hrabal.Â
- Transfers Lucas Ölvestad and Joey Musa were also named to their respective conferences' all-academic teams. Â
YOUNG N' MIGHTY
- Despite entering the 2024 season as the seveth youngest program in College Hockey with average age of 21.4 years old, UMass ranks second in tallest teams coming in at an average height of 6'1.3".Â
- With only two seniors on the roster, the Minutemen have the second fewest in the NCAA and are tied for eighth in total underclassmen with 17 freshmen and sophomores.
THE AMHERST PIPELINEÂ
- The Minutemen were well represented in the NHL during the 2023-24 season ranking tied for fourth-most with North Dakota in number of alumni playing in the NHL last season with 15.
- The Minutemen are tied for ninth nationally with nine draft picks on the 2024-25 roster.
- UMass was named the top developmental program in NCAA Men's College Hockey by The Hockey News in August 2021.
GOING BACK TO THEIR ROOTS
- Sophomore Jack Musa and his older brother Joey Musa have reunited for Joey's final season of eligibility after Joey previously played three seasons at Dartmouth. The duo was most recently teammates in 2020-21 with the Odessa Jackalopes of the NAHL.Â
- Despite coming to Amherst from Orange Park, Florida, the Musa brothers have family ties to Western Mass. as their father, Joe Musa is a Springfield native who played college hockey at Division III Western New England (1990-92).
ALGER, LAUTENBACH AND MERCURI TO LEAD MINUTEMEN IN 2024-25
- Graduate student defenseman Linden Alger has been named captain for 2024-25, while senior forwards Ryan Lautenbach and Lucas Mercuri will serve as alternate captains.
- Alger, who announced he would be returning for a fifth season with the Minutemen this past spring, has appeared in 66 games over four years in Amherst, including a career-best 35 in 2023-24. He is +4 for his career and has five points on three goals and two assists, four of which came last season. The four-time Hockey East All-Academic Team honoree is the first Massachusetts native (Centerville) to wear the "C" for UMass since Conor Sheary (Melrose) did so as a senior in 2023-14.
- Lautenbach enters his senior year coming off his most productive campaign of his collegiate career in 2023-24, which saw him post 24 points on 10 goals and 14 assists, including a team-best three shorthanded tallies and one game winner. The Brighton, Michigan native has seen action in 102 career games to date with 17 goals and 31 assists for 48 points. He is a two-time Hockey East All-Academic Team member.
- Mercuri, a 2020 sixth round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, has appeared in 108 of a possible 109 games over his first three seasons in a UMass uniform and has compiled 54 career points on 18 goals and 36 assists with a +2 rating, four power-play goals and five game winners. The Montreal, Quebec native posted new career highs in goals (9), assists (16) and points (25) as a junior over 37 games with three power-play tallies and three game winners. He has been named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team twice in his career thus far.
MILESTONE WATCH
- Greg Carvel is entering the 2024-25 season at 149 wins at UMass and is 15 away from career win No. 250. He needs 18 wins this season to pass Don "Toot" Cahoon (166 wins) to become the all-time wins leader at UMass.
- Ryan Lautenbach is two away from moving up into a tie for third all-time for career shorthanded goals, currently with three. Five individuals are tied for third with five with Stephen Werner (2002-06) being the most recent entry into the top-three.
- Michael Hrabal (16 wins) is four away from cracking the top-10 in program history in career wins by a goaltender. Director of Player Development Steve Mastalerz (2011-15) is currently 10th with 20 career wins.
IN CARVEL WE TRUST
- Head coach Greg Carvel, in his ninth season of his UMass tenure, has led the Minutemen to five seasons of 20+ wins, including a program-record 31 wins in 2018-19, the second-highest wins total in program history (22 in 2021-22), 21 wins in 2019-20 (tied-third) and 20 wins in 2020-21 and 2023-24 (tied-fifth).
- Carvel won his 100th game at the helm for the Minutemen on November 6, 2021 at Providence. He earned his 200th career victory on March, 12, 2022 vs. the Friars in the Hockey East Quarterfinals.
- Among active Division I Men's head coaches, Carvel is second in wins for coaches with tenures of 14 years or less, trailing only Mike Hastings (Wisconsin, 325). Carvel is in his 14th year as a head coach and currently has 235 wins.
- Under head coach Greg Carvel, the Minutemen are 7-3 in the NCAA Tournament with two trips to the National Final (2019 and 2021) and one National Championship (2021) and have made four NCAA Tournament appearances under Carvel.
- UMass is 21-39 all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, 11-8 under Carvel and 9-3 since 2019 with consecutive Hockey East Tournament titles in 2021 and 2022, the first two in program history.
- Overall under Carvel (Hockey East and NCAA Tournament) UMass' postseason record is 18-11 with two Hockey East Championships, two Regional Championships and one National Championship.Â
FILL THE BILL
- UMass finished its home slate ranked 13th nationally in attendance and 11th average attendance (5,544) over 17 home games on the year.Â
- The attendance vs. No. 6 Michigan tied the program's Mullins Center attendance record at 8,412 after packing the building with 7,361 fans the night before against the Wolverines, good for 17th-most all-time. That weekend series against Michigan set a new non-conference weekend series attendance record with a combined total of 15,773 coming through the doors at Mullins on Oct. 13 and 14.
- Most recently, UMass drew 7,737 fans against Maine on Feb. 3, 6,342 against UConn on Feb. 10, 8,412 against Boston College on Feb. 16 and 6,089 on Feb. 23 vs. New Hampshire. It matched a program record of four straight home crowds of 6,000+, first set in 2007 (3/2, 3/3, 3/9, 3/10). Then for the home regular season finale, 6,289 fans came out to the Mullins center to break the record with a fifth-straight home crowd of 6K+.
UMASS RETURNS TO THE ICE BREAKER TOURNAMENT
- University of Massachusetts hockey will participate in the 2024 Men's Ice Breaker Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
- In addition to the Minutemen and the host Gophers, Air Force and Omaha will also compete in the event, which is slated for Oct. 11-12, 2024.Â
- UMass previously played in the Ice Breaker Tournament in 2008 when Boston University hosted at Agganis Arena in Boston.
- The Ice Breaker Tournament, which began in 1997, traditionally marks the beginning of the NCAA Division I men's hockey season. The event brings together four teams, typically from different conferences, and is administered by College Hockey Inc. on behalf of the Hockey Commissioners Association.
PROSPECTS APLENTY
- The Massachusetts roster features nine NHL draft picks across eight different franchises. UMass returns Dans Locmelis (Boston, 2022 fourth round), Michael Hrabal (Arizona, 2023 second round), Cam O'Neill (Ottawa, 2022 fifth round), Aydar Suniev (Calgary, 2023 third round) and Nick VanTassell (Ottawa, 2023 seventh round) for a second season, while Kenny Connors (Los Angeles, 2022 fourth round) and Lucas Mercuri (Carolina, 2020 sixth round) are in their fourth years with the Minutemen, respectively.Â
- Incoming freshman Larry Keenan was selected in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Winds in the fourth round (117th overall).
MINUTEMEN FROM NEAR AND FAR
- UMass' 2024-25 roster is comprised of student-athletes from seven different countries.Â
- There are three different Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec) represented and nine different states (Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania).
- Springfield native Kennedy O'Connor is the closest to home at 27 miles, while Aydar Suniev is the furthest from home (Kazan, Russia) at 4,844 miles.
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
- UMass went 85-28-10 at the Mullins Center over the past five seasons (2018-present) for a .732 winning percentage. This stretch included a 16-game unbeaten streak (15-0-1) that began on Jan. 11, 2019 against Vermont and came to an end on Nov. 30, 2019 with a 2-1 loss to Quinnipiac.Â
BLOODLINES AND FAMILY TIES
- Jack and Joey Musa are the sixth set of brothers to wear the Maroon & White in the program's modern era, the fifth duo to play together at UMass. The other five sets of brothers are: Anthony Del Gaizo (2018-22) and Marc Del Gaizo (2018-21), Taylor Makar (2021-24) and Cale Makar (2017-19), James Marcou 2007-10 and Michael Marcou 2008-12; Jeff Turner 1997-2001 and Tim Turner 1999-2003; Mike Warner 2000-04 and Tim Warner 2001-05.
- Linden Alger's father, Richard, played for UMass in the program's inaugural Division I season (1993-94) and then played the next two campaigns at Boston University (1995-97). Kennedy O'Connor's father, Thomas, was a teammate of Alger's at UMass in 1994-95 and played with the program through 1998 before going on to a professional career with the Wheeling Nailers (1998-99) and Augusta Lynx (2000-01) of the ECHL and the Syracuse Crunch (1998-99) and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (1999-00) of the AHL. O'Connor's sister, Kayla, was a college hockey player as well, playing at Trinity from 2014 to 2018.
- Lucas Ölvestad's father, Jimmie, played for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2001-2003 and Lucas was actually born in Tampa during his father's NHL tenure. Jimmie Ölvestad went on to have an extended pro career with Djurgårdens IF back home in Sweden.
- Owen Murray's great uncle, Dallas Smith, played for the Boston Bruins from 1966 to 1977.
- Jackson Irving's father, Father, Bruce, was a goaltender at Cornell.Â
- Cam O'Neill's brother Colin played hockey at UMass Lowell (2016-18) and his brother Jason played hockey at Providence (2017-21).
- Freshman Larry Keenan's grandfather Larry Keenan played in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs (1961-62), St. Louis Blues (1967-71), Buffalo Sabres (1970-72) and Philadelphia Flyers (1971-72).
- Freshman James Duerr's brother Sam plays hockey at Bentley and the two will face each other for the first time in their hockey careers in the teams' 2024-25 season opener.
