Black Knights Visit Massachusetts Hockey For Black Friday Showdown

Game 15	Massachusetts Minutemen (6-6-2, 1-3-2 HE) vs. Army Black Knights (5-8-0, 5-6-0 AHA)
Dates \| Times	Friday, November 29, 2024 \| 4:00 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center)
Series History	Army leads 23-22-1
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Watch Live	ESPN+
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 \| Army
Game Program	11/29 vs. Army
Team Records	Massachusetts \| Army
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	UMass

LAST TIME OUT
- UMass split its pair of home games this past weekend, defeating Harvard 5-3 on Friday and falling to Vermont 3-2 on Sunday.
- On Friday, led by a four-point night for junior Cole O'Hara, a four-goal third period helped lift the Minutemen to a 5-3 win over Harvard on Friday .
- UMass opened the scoring when sophomore Aydar Suniev put home a rebound at the net front from senior Lucas Mercuri and O'Hara amidst a scramble for the puck at the 2:59 mark of the second period.
- Harvard leveled the score at 1-1 after a long-range dump in from Mick Thompson ricocheted off the end boards to Marek Hejduk who crashed the net to put the puck home at 8:31. Mick Thompson earned the secondary helper on the play.
- Thompson then added a goal of his own 23 seconds later, sending a shot past Michael Hrabal along the ice from close range off a feed from Lucas St. Lous and Casey Severo.
- Just 1:56 into the third period, O'Hara redirected a shot from junior Kennedy O'Connor at the right point past netminder Aku Koskenvuo to level the score at 2-2. Graduate student Linden Alger collected an assist, as well.
- Sophomore Dans Locmelis put the Minutemen back in front on the power play at the 5:45 mark. O'Hara gained the offensive zone after collecting the puck from junior Kenny Connors and fired a shot that was turned aside by Koskenvuo. However, Locmelis was there at the back post to bang home the rebound into an open net.
- Sophomore Jack Musa pushed the margin to 4-2, 10:17 into the third, redirecting in a shot from Alger at the left point after Locmelis won a battle for the puck along the half wall.
- Less than a minute later, O'Hara added the fifth and final tally for UMass with a top corner snipe from the left faceoff circle off a feed from Mercuri and Suniev.
- The Crimson capped the scoring in at the 19:18 mark, as Joe Miller converted with the extra attacker on for Harvard.
- The teams ended the night level in shots at 40 apiece. UMass was 1-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- Hrabal totaled 37 saves for the Minutemen and Koskenvuo had 35 stops for the Crimson.
- Five Massachusetts players had multi-point efforts, led by O'Hara's two goals and two assists. Alger (2a), Locmelis (1g, 1a), Mercuri (2a) and Suniev (1g, 1a) all contributed two points apiece in the victory.
- On Sunday, UMass opened the scoring, but Vermont responded with the next three straight to slip past the Minutemen, 3-2 the Mullins Center.
- UMass struck first when senior Ryan Lautenbach and freshman James Duerr began a flurry of shots in front of Vermont goaltender Axel Mangbo and sophomore Nick VanTassell put back his own rebound at the right post 9:11 into the first period.
- The Catamounts pulled level with the Minutemen moments later. Max Strand won a battle for the puck behind the UMass net and Jens Richard sent a centering pass in front that Timofei Spitserov finished off at the top of the crease at 11:42.
- Vermont pulled in front just before the first intermission, 2-1. Will Zapernick won a defensive zone faceoff and Luca Münzenberger cleared the puck up the boards to Isak Walther who found himself in behind the Minuteman defense for the score at the 18:49 mark.
- The score remained at 2-1 until UMass sent Hrabal to the bench for an extra attacker with 3:30 remaining in the third period. Walther added his second goal of the day, an empty-netter for UVM's third, set up by Joel Maatta and Münzenberger.
- The Minutemen responded with an extra attacker goal from Mercuri admidst a scramble in the crease with Locmelis poking the puck free to Mercuri after Connors sent it through traffic from the perimeter at the 19:30 mark.
- UMass kept pressing in the final 30 seconds, but was unable to come up with the equalizer.
- The Minutemen finished with a 40-19 advantage in shots on goal and went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
- Hrabal finished with 16 saves and Mangbo totaled 38.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME
- Since the 2018-19 season, UMass is 14-6-2 against Providence College, while all other opponents are 23-54-13 against the Friars in that span.
- The Minutemen are 7-2-1 in their last 10 matchups at Schneider Arena, an improvement from 0-10-1 in their previous 11 games dating back to the 2017-18 season.

"GREEN" BLUE LINE
- UMass is just one of nine teams in the nation with four or more freshman defenseman on its roster for 2024-25, trailing only Northern Michigan's seven and Alaska's five.
- The Minutemen have dressed at least three freshman defensemen in all 14 games this season, dressing four on six occasions. The only team to dress three or more freshmen blueliners more times than UMass this season is Air Force (15 times in 16 GP).

O'HARA COPS WEEKLY HONOR
- Junior forward Cole O'Hara was selected as the Hockey East Player of the Week on Oct. 14 for his first weekly honor of his career from the league.
- The Richmond Hill, Ontario native led UMass in scoring at the Ice Breaker Tournament where the Minutemen went 1-1-0 with an 3-2 overtime loss to #15/16 Omaha and a convincing 5-1 win over Air Force and earned a spot on the Ice Breaker All-Tournament Team.
- O'Hara registered an assist against Omaha and then followed up with a career high three-point night against Air Force, which included two goals—the game-winning power-play goal and an empty net goal. He also registered one block against the Falcons.

HOW DO YOU DUERR?
-Freshman forward James Duerr collected the first three points of his college career against Vermont on Nov. 8, netting two goals and an assist, factoring in on all three UMass goals on the evening.

CHART-TOPPERS
- Aydar Suniev continues to impress, ranking fourth in goals with nine, and tenth in the nation in points with 16 (9g, 7a). Suniev is also among the top scorers among those drafted in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, ranking fifth in points.
- Cole O'Hara climbs to number two in the nation in assists with 14 and number three in points with 20 (6g, 14a). He also ranks fourth in assists per game at 1.0 and eighth in points per game with 1.43.
- Kenny Connors joins O'Hara on the assist leaderboard, finding himself eighth in the nation with 12 helpers.
- The UMass offense continues to impress, ranking sixth in the nation in both team assists with 81, and team points with 127.

SAVES GALORE: 44
- With a career-high 44-save performance in a victory over American International College on November 2, Michael Hrabal picked up the third 40+ save performance of his college career, topping his previous best of 41 saves against Denver in the 2024 NCAA Regional Tournament and a 40-save game against Boston College earlier in the 2023-24 season.

WELCOME ABOARD
- Both Lucas Ölvestad and Joey Musa scored their first points as Minutemen at the Ice Breaker Tournament in a 5-1 victory over Air Force.
- Ölvestad broke the ice for UMass 2:44 into the second period, scoring his second career goal and first in 35 collegiate games.
- Musa later assisted on a Nick VanTassell goal to put the Minutemen up 4-0 in the third period.
- Both players joined the program as transfers this past offseason and have made an immediate impact on the scoresheet.

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 11 newcomers, which includes 16 freshmen and sophomores.
- 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 four 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 with12 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.

HATS OFF, AYDAR
- Netting three goals in the 2024-25 season opener, Aydar Suniev recorded his first career hat trick, passing his previous single-game high of two goals and the first hat trick by a UMass forward since the 2021 NCAA Tournament (Carson Gicewicz vs Bemidji State 3/27/21). The feat is also the first in a season opener by a Minuteman since Austin Plevy in a 6-3 win over Colorado College on 10/9/15.

CARVEL'S FAST-150
- The 2024-25 season is already making waves around Amherst as Greg Carvel collected his 150th win at UMass with a victory over Bentley (10/5/24). His continued success through only 289 games put him in the Massachusetts record books next to Don "Toot" Cahoon, reaching the milestone 87 games quicker.
- Cahoon, the program's all-time wins leader recorded his 150th win in his 376th game and his 166th win in his 434th. Only 12 wins away, Carvel is closing in on Cahoon as the program's all-time wins leader.

ALL EYES ON U
- Three Minutemen have made The Hockey News "Top 100 NCAA Players to Watch in 2024-25" with Michael Hrabal (29), Aydar Suniev (73), and Kenny Connors (100).
- Hrabal's size, sky-high potential, and solid freshman season have set eyes on him as the season kicks off.
- Suniev receives praise for his intelligence and skill, while Connors could be in store for a strong junior season.

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.

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.
- 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.
- 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.

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, 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).
- 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.

GRADE-A
- 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.
- Transfers Lucas Ölvestad and Joey Musa were also named to their respective conferences' all-academic teams.

YOUNG N' MIGHTY
- Despite entering the 2024 season as the seventh 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".
- 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 PIPELINE
- 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.
- 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 AND MERCURI TO LEAD MINUTEMEN IN 2024-25
- Graduate student defenseman Linden Alger has been named captain for 2024-25, while senior forward Lucas Mercuri will serve as alternate captain.
- Alger, who announced he would be returning for a fifth season with the Minutemen this past spring, appeared in 66 games over his previous four years in Amherst, including a career-best 35 in 2023-24. He is +5 for his career and has 11 points on six goals and five 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.
- Mercuri, a 2020 sixth round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, has appeared in 122 of a possible 123 games over his career in a UMass uniform and has compiled 62 career points on 21 goals and 41 assists with five 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 nine away from career win No. 250. He needs 12 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 (22 wins) currently ranks 10th for career wins by a goaltender in UMass history. He needs two wins to pass Jonathan Quick for ninth.

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, 329). Carvel is in his 14th year as a head coach and currently has 241 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.

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.
- 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.
- 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+.
-The streak of 6K+ attendances continued for the Minutemen in their 2024-25 home opener with a crowd of 6,022 vs. Sacred Heart on Oct. 18 and a sellout crowd of 8,412 against UConn on Oct. 25.

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.
- Incoming freshman Larry Keenan was selected in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings in the fourth round (117th overall).

MINUTEMEN FROM NEAR AND FAR
- UMass' 2024-25 roster is comprised of student-athletes from seven different countries.
- 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 86-30-11 at the Mullins Center over the past five-plus seasons (2018-present) for a .715 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.

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.
- 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.

Scoreboard