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University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass' Hrabal Collects Bronze With Team Czechia At IIHF World Junior Championship For Second Straight Year
January 05, 2025 | Hockey
OTTAWA – University of Massachusetts hockey sophomore goaltender Michael Hrabal earned Bronze at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship after helping his native Czechia defeat Sweden, 3-2, in a 14-round shootout in the Bronze Medal game at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.
Hrabal is the first two-time medal winner from UMass after also helping Czechia to Bronze in 2024. In total, seven individuals from UMass have collected eight medals at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Current junior Kenny Connors and Ryan Ufko were part of a Bronze Medal winning Team USA squad in 2023. Goaltender Filip Lindberg captured Gold with Finland in 2020 and Cale Makar took home Gold with Canada in 2018, while that same tournament Director of Equipment Operations Josh Penn earned a Bronze medal on staff with Team USA. Stephen Werner was the first Minuteman to collect a medal at the World Junior Championship, winning gold with the United States in 2004.
Hrabal started six of seven of Czechia's games in the tournament, posting a 3-2 record with a .919 save percentage and a 2.45 goals-against average over 366:45 in net, totaling 169 saves. He helped the Czechs reach the Semifinal Round with 29 saves on 32 shots in a 4-3 victory over Canada in the quarterfinals.
In the Bronze Medal game, Hrabal 32 shots through three periods and overtime and then denied 12 of 14 shootout attempts to help seal the medal-clinching win over Sweden, earning Player of the Game recognition. He was selected as one of Team Czechia's Top-Three Players of the Tournament by the team's coaches for a second straight year, as well.
Hrabal is the first two-time medal winner from UMass after also helping Czechia to Bronze in 2024. In total, seven individuals from UMass have collected eight medals at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Current junior Kenny Connors and Ryan Ufko were part of a Bronze Medal winning Team USA squad in 2023. Goaltender Filip Lindberg captured Gold with Finland in 2020 and Cale Makar took home Gold with Canada in 2018, while that same tournament Director of Equipment Operations Josh Penn earned a Bronze medal on staff with Team USA. Stephen Werner was the first Minuteman to collect a medal at the World Junior Championship, winning gold with the United States in 2004.
Hrabal started six of seven of Czechia's games in the tournament, posting a 3-2 record with a .919 save percentage and a 2.45 goals-against average over 366:45 in net, totaling 169 saves. He helped the Czechs reach the Semifinal Round with 29 saves on 32 shots in a 4-3 victory over Canada in the quarterfinals.
In the Bronze Medal game, Hrabal 32 shots through three periods and overtime and then denied 12 of 14 shootout attempts to help seal the medal-clinching win over Sweden, earning Player of the Game recognition. He was selected as one of Team Czechia's Top-Three Players of the Tournament by the team's coaches for a second straight year, as well.
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