#17/18 Massachusetts Minutemen Set For a Home-And-Home against #16 Providence Friars

Games 14-15	#17/18 Massachusetts Minutemen (7-6-0, 1-3-0 HE) vs. #16 Providence Friars (5-4-2, 3-2-1 HE)
Dates \| Times	Thursday, November 20, 2025 \| 7:00 p.m. Saturday, November 22, 2025 \| 7:00 p.m.
Location	Providence, RI (Schneider Arena) Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center)
Series History	Providence leads 53-39-8
Live Statistics	Thursday \| Saturday
Watch Live	ESPN+ \| International Stream NESN (Thursday)
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 \| Providence
Game Program	vs. Providence
Team Records	Massachusetts \| P rovidence
Twitter	@UMassHockey \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Hockey \| UMass Athletics
Tickets	T hursday \| Saturday

LAST TIME OUT
- No. 13/12 Massachusetts dropped both games of its series with No. 18/16 Boston College, 7-3 and 4-0.
- On Friday in Chestnut HIll, UMass held a 2-1 lead after the first, but the Eagles scored six goals over the final two periods to skate past the Minutemen, 7-3.
- The Minutemen opened the scoring 10:35 into the first. Freshman Jack Galanek finished off a give-and-go from junior Jack Musa on the rush with a shot that deflected off a defender and into the BC net.
- Less than a minute later, the Eagles tied the score at 1-1. Dean Letourneau redirected a Luka Radivojevic shot from the perimeter with Jake Sondreal earning the secondary helper.
- Before the intermission, Musa put UMass back in front, 2-1, firing a shot just under the crossbar off a feed from freshman Václav Nestrašil and sophomore Francesco Dell'Elce at the 16:30 mark.
- Just 2:16 into the second period, Boston College leveled things at 2-2. Drew Fortescue's shot from the top of the faceoff circle tucked underneath the outstretched arm of goaltender Jackson Irving, set up by Aram Minnetian, Michael Hagens.
- With UMass unable to clear the defensive zone following an icing, James Hagens put the Eagles in front, 3-2, with a wrister from the faceoff circle after collecting a pass from Teddy Stiga at the 12:45 mark.
- Just 44 seconds into the third period, BC converted on the power play with Ryan Conmy's one-timer from the slot, set up by James Hagens and Will Moore. The Eagles added another 49 seconds later with Will Vote cleaning up a loose puck in front from Letourneau and Radivojevic.
- Sophomore Daniel Jencko brought the Minutemen back to within one with a power-play goal at 12:29. Galanek found a loose puck and sent a cross-ice pass over to Jencko for the finish into the open net. Nestrašil earned an assist on the play as well, his second of the night.
- However, BC quelled the rally with an empty net goal from Brady Berard at 18:05 and Will Traeger capped the scoring for the Eagles in the final minute of play.
- Boston College out-shot UMass, 39-16 and went 1-for-1 on the power play while the Minutemen were 1-for-4.
- Irving finished the night with 32 saves for the Minutemen and Louka Cloutier stopped 13 for BC.
- Despite even chances throughout the contest, UMass was unable to solve Cloutier, falling to the Eagles, 4-0 on Saturday night at the Mullins Center.
- BC broke up the scoreless deadlock late in the second period as Will Vote and Luka Radivojevic passed the puck around the perimeter of the offensive zone and Paul Davey finished the play with a shot from the right wing that deflected off a body in front and in at 14:28.
- The Eagles doubled their lead 6:59 into the third. After collecting a pass from Drew Fortescue and Ryan Conmy, Jake Sondreal flung a shot towards the net and the puck bounced past Irving.
- Sondreal added his second of the night at the 11:41 mark with a back post tap-in off a wrap-around attempt by Dean Letourneau with Conmy collecting the secondary helper.
- Conmy picked up his third point of the night with an empty net goal from Fortescue to cap the scoring at the 15:16 mark.
- BC edged UMass in shots, 35-32 and did not have a power play on the night, while the Minutemen were 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
- Cloutier totaled 32 saves in the shutout effort and Irving turned aside 31 for UMass.

IRVING EARNS GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK NOD
- Jackson Irving was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Week on November 10. It marked UMass' third weekly honor of the season and the second of Irving's career.
- The Newbury, Massachusetts native started both games against No. 6 Maine and posted a .934 save percentage for the series making 85 stops with a 3.01 GAA and a 1-1-0 record.
- Irving logged a career high 48 saves in Thursday's loss to the Black Bears and earned the game's No. 3 star. He rebounded by posting 37 saves in his second collegiate shutout, 4-0 over Maine and was tabbed the No. 1 star of the game.

NESTRASIL NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
- Following his contributions to Massachusetts hockey's win at Stonehill on October 10, freshman forward Václav Nestrašil was tabbed Co-Hockey East Rookie of the Week. The honor marked the third for a member of the Minutemen this season and the first of Nestrašil's career.
- In the 4-1 victory over the Skyhawks at Warrior Arena last week, Nestrašil registered a hat trick, which included two power-play goals. The three tallies came on seven shots for the Prague, Czechia, native, a team high. His performance marked the first hat trick by a UMass freshman since 2015 and he currently has four goals in three games to begin his collegiate career.

IN THE NATIONAL PICTURE
UMass is top-15 in the nation in....
- Power-Play Percentage (10th, 25..5%)
- Assists (11th, 70)
- Power-Play Goals (10th, 12)

MILESTONES APPROACHING FOR HRABAL
- Junior Michael Hrabal played in his 75th career game against Cornell on November 1 and is now three away from passing current director of player development Steve Mastalerz '15 for sixth all-time in career games played for a UMass goaltender.
- With 41 wins to his credit, Hrabal is four shy of matching Paul Dainton (2007-11) for third in program history.
- Currently at 2,070 saves for his career, Hrabal is 313 saves away from breaking into the top-five in program history in that category.

SMASHING START FOR VANTASSELL
- Junior Nick VanTassell picked up three points with a goal and two assists against Maine and has now doubled his previous career high in points set in 2024-25 with eight points in 13 games (1g, 7a). He previously had four points in 37 games as a sophomore.

TRENDING
- Through 13 games on the season the Minutemen are...
- 5-4-0 at home
- 5-1-0 when scoring first
- 4-2-0 when outshooting their opponent
- 5-3-0 when scoring a power-play goal
- 6-0-0 when scoring four or more goals

MUSA, KEENAN NAMED TO SPENGLER CUP ROSTER
-Junior forward Jack Musa was named to the United States Select hockey team for the 2025 Spengler cup on October 30th. Sophomore defenseman Larry Keenan was added to the roster on November 13. The pair are two of 25 student-athletes from across NCAA men's ice hockey selected to compete in the prestigious tournament in late December.
- Musa leads UMass in points with 17 on seven goals and 10 assists through 13 games on the season. As the top returning scorer for the Minutemen from 2024-25, Musa put up 35 points last season as a sophomore, appearing in all 40 games and contributing 18 goals and 17 assists. Thus far in his career in a UMass uniform he has registered 81 points in 90 games on 37 goals and 44 assists.
- Keenan has logged five points on two goals and three assists across 13 games this season. Over the 53 games of his career, he has totaled 16 points (6g, 10a) with a +21 rating.
- With the addition of Keenan to the Spengler Cup roster, UMass becomes the fifth team to send more than one player to the tournament in Davos, Switzerland. The Minutemen join North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, Notre Dame, and Penn State as teams with more than one player on the roster.
- The United States Collegiate Selects will face Team Canada to open play Spengler Cup play on December 26. Each team will play a minimum of three contests and maximum of five during the six-day event. The competition runs from December 26-31, with the six participating teams. Along with the Selects, host HC Davos, Team Canada, HC Fribourg-Gotteron, Sparta Praha and IFK Helsinki will be taking part in the 2025 edition.

SHOTS—EVERYBODY!!
- UMass' 70 shots on goal in the squad's Oct. 4 matchup against Northern Michigan set a modern NCAA record (since 2004) for shots in a regulation game. Freshman Václav Nestrašil led the Minutemen with a game-high eight shots on goal.

FIRSTS
- Milestones set by the Minutemen this season…
- Collegiate debuts - (10/4 vs NMU): Václav Nestrašil, Jack Galanek, Lukáš Klecka, Landon Nycz, Charlie Lieberman; (10/10 at Stonehill): Elias Zimmerman (10/17 vs. Northeastern): Coleson Hanrahan; (10/18 vs. Bentley): Justin Kerr, A.J. Lacroix
- Goals - (10/4 vs. NMU): Klecka, Nestrasil; (10/5 vs. NMU): Nycz; (10/17 vs. Northeastern): Bo Cosman; (11/6 vs. Maine): Jack Galanek.
- Assists - (10/4 vs. NMU): Galanek, Lieberman; (10/18 vs. Bentley): Nestrasil; (10/24 at Omaha): Klecka; (10/25 at Omaha): Nycz.
- Points - (10/4 vs. NMU): Klecka, Nestrasil, Galanek, Lieberman

MUSA AND KLEČKA COP FIRST WEEKLY AWARDS OF THE SEASON
- Forwards junior Jack Musa and freshman Lukáš Klecka both received weekly awards from Hockey East following a weekend sweep of Northern Michigan to start the 2025-26 campaign. Musa was tabbed Co-Hockey East Player of the Week, while Klecka earned Rookie of the Week recognition.
- Musa put up five points on three goals and two assists in the pair of wins against the Wildcats, won 5-of-5 faceoffs and was +3 on the weekend
- Klecka scored in both games against Northern Michigan for the first two tallies of his career. He totaled five shots and was +2 in his opening weekend of collegiate competition.

STATE OF THE U
- University of Massachusetts hockey has youthful roster in its 10th season under head coach Greg Carvel in 2025-26 as the squad is comprised of 16 returnees and 11 newcomers, which includes 16 freshmen and sophomores.
- UMass saw the bulk of its roster turnover on the forward front, losing seven players to graduation and professional hockey. Cole O'Hara and Aydar Suniev tallied nearly 25% of the team's total points last season, with Suniev providing 38 (20g, 18a) and O'Hara tying the single-season points record with 51 (22g, 29a). Massachusetts also saw Lucas Mercuri (18g, 16a, 34pts), Dans Locmelis (7g, 24a, 31pts), and Kenny Connors (10g, 20a, 30pts) all ink their NHL entry-level contracts; Mercuri also joined Joey Musa and Ryan Lautenbach as graduates. The Minutemen return just four of their top-10 scorers from last season, two of whom were forwards: Jack Musa and Daniel Jencko. Musa tallied the third-most points in the 2024-25 season with 34, and Jencko posted the second most points among all freshmen with 16. The forward group returns seven total members from last season and welcomes nine new members, including transfers Owen Mehlenbacher and Matthew Wilde.
- Seniors Lucas Ölvestad, Owen Murray, and Kennedy O'Connor will provide a veteran presence on the Minutemen's back end this season. Sophomores Larry and Francesco Dell'Elce were lineup regulars in their rookie campaigns; Dell'Elce ranked seventh-highest last season in total points, leading his class with 24 (7g, 17a). The Minutemen have added two freshmen to their blue line this season, in Coleson Hanrahan and Landon Nycz.
- Massachusetts' goaltending tandem remains the same for the 2025-26 season. Michael Hrabal leads the group into his junior campaign after starting 35 of 40 games as a sophomore. He will be backed up by fellow junior Jackson Irving and sophomore James Norton.

IRONMEN
- Among players returning to the Minutemen for the 2025-26 season, four players played in all 40 games during the 2024-25 season: Jack Musa, Francesco Dell'Elce, Owen Murray, Larry Keenan
- Junior Jack Musa has yet to miss a game – he has played in all 90 possible games across the first two-plus years of his collegiate career.

CALE MAKAR: SECOND NORRIS, FIRST OLYMPICS
- Former Minuteman Cale Makar was awarded the James Norris Memorial Trophy for the second time in his career after being a finalist for the fifth time in six seasons. Makar posted 30 goals and 62 assists across 80 games in the 2024-25 season, putting him at ninth-most points across the league. Makar also had the most goals, assists, and points by a defenseman.
- Makar was also one of six players named Canada's Olympic Games Preliminary Roster. He will be making the trip to Milan, Italy in February 2026 for his first career Olympic appearance.

CAREER HIGHS
- Among the tenured Minutemen returning for the 2025-26 season, the following players posted career highs during the 2024-25 campaign:
- Lucas Ölvestad (C), 4g, 16a, 20pts, +8
- Owen Murray (C), 5g, 9a, 14pts, +5
- Jack Musa, 18g, 16a, 34pts, +18
- Nick VanTassell, 2g, 2a, 4pts

IT TAKES A VILLAGE
- During the first meeting between the two teams, the Minutemen earned an 8-0 victory against the Robert Morris Colonials. This was the highest tally recorded by the Minutemen during the 2024-25 season.
- 13 Minutemen had their names on the score sheet, with six different goal scorers and nine different players with an assist. Aydar Suniev led the way with 4 points (2g, 2a).

HRA-BALLIN'
- The third-highest Minutemen ever selected in the NHL Entry Draft at 38th overall, Michael Hrabal's sophomore season saw him land on Hockey East's Third Team All-Star roster.
- With 36 games logged in the 2024-25 season, Hrabal posted a 2.39 GAA and a .924 save percentage with a 19-12-5 record. He was named Hockey East's Goaltender of the Week three times during the 2024 season (12/9, 2/17, 2/24) and Hockey East's Defender of the Week one time during the 2024-25 season (1/13).
- Hrabal's 1,028 saves in the 2024 campaign ranks second all-time in program history for a single season, and his 19 wins tied for third highest in a single season.

SCHOLARLY SQUAD
- Among UMass' 20 Hockey East All-Academic Team recipients from the 2024-25 season, 14 return to the squad this season with Owen Murray, Kennedy O'Connor, Bo Cosman, Michael Hrabal, Jackson Irving, Francesco Dell'Elce, Cam Dunn, Larry Keenan, Charlie Lieberman, Finn Loftus, Jack Musa, James Norton, Lucas Ölvestad, and Nick VanTassell.
- Loftus, James Duerr, and Cam O'Neill were all named Hockey East's Top Scholar-Athletes and were selected to the 2024-25 Hockey East Academic All-Star Team.
- Transfer Owen Mehlenbacher was also named to his conference's all-academic team while at Wisconsin.

STANDING TALL (AND STRONG)
- UMass enters the 2025 season as the 11th youngest program in college hockey with average age of 21.6 years old, yet they are the tallest team coming in at an average height of 6'1.8".
- Michael Hrabal is tied for second-tallest player and is the tallest goalie in Division I Hockey, standing at 6'7". Incoming freshmen Elias Zimmerman and Vaclav Nestrasil are tied for fifth tallest players, both at 6'6".
- UMass comes in as the fourth heaviest team, with an average weight of 193 pounds.

MURRAY AND ÖLVESTAD LEAD MINUTEMEN IN 2025-26
- Senior defensemen Owen Murray and Lucas Ölvestad have been named captains for the 2025-26 season.
- Murray has appeared in 105 games over his three-plus seasons with the Minutemen, including a season-high 40 games in the 2024-25 campaign. To date has totaled 30 points on eight goals and 22 assists, with career highs (5g, 9a) in his junior season.
- In his first season as a Minuteman, Ölvestad appeared in 28 games and registered 20 points on four goals and 16 assists. He led all defensemen with 13 points (3g, 10a) across 24 Hockey East Games. Ölvestad brought experience from a 2024 NCAA National Champion during his time with Denver.

PUTTING PEN TO PAPER
- Following the end of the 2024-25 season, five Minutemen inked their NHL Entry-Level Contracts: Lucas Mercuri (TBL), Dans Locmelis (BOS), Cole O'Hara (NSH), Kenny Connors (LAK), and Aydar Suniev (CGY).
- Connors' contract marked the 20th Minuteman to sign an NHL contract under the coaching of Greg Carvel. In total, 21 Minutemen have signed NHL contracts in the Carvel era.
- Ryan Lautenbach also signed an ATO with the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League (AHL).

ROOKIE LAPS
- Ryan Ufko, who signed his NHL Entry-Level Contract following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, made his NHL debut for the Nashville Predators on April 14, 2025. He became the 25th Minuteman to play in an NHL game.
- Aydar Suniev made his NHL debut with the Calgary Flames three days later, on April 17.
- Taylor Makar became the 27th former Minuteman to play in the NHL when he skated for the Colorado Avalanche against the San Jose Sharks on November 1.

IN OUR CARVEL ERA
- Head coach Greg Carvel, in his 10th season of his UMass tenure, has led the Minutemen to six seasons of 20+ wins, including a 21-win showing in the 2024-25 season.
- Carvel earned his 166th victory of his UMass career in a 3-1 win over New Hampshire on February 22, tying him with Don "Toot" Cahoon as the program's all-time wins leader. He took sole possession of the record with a 5-3 win over UMass Lowell on March 1. Carvel now stands at the top of the list with 177 wins and counting.
- In the Carvel Era, the Minutemen are 8-4 in the NCAA Tournament with two trips to the National Final (2019 and 2021) and one National Championship (2021) and have made five NCAA Tournament appearances under Carvel.
- UMass is 22-40 all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, 12-9 under Carvel and 10-4 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 20-13 with two Hockey East Championships, two Regional Championships and one National Championship.

A TRIP TO FARGO
- The Minutemen earned their sixth NCAA Tournament berth, which sent them to North Dakota for the Fargo Regional as the No. 3 seed. This marked UMass hockey's first trip to Fargo.
- Massachusetts faced the No. 2 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, their first meeting since a 4-3 overtime loss in the first round of the 2022 Tournament. This time, the Minutemen were able to knock out the Gophers and secure a 5-4 overtime win with a tap-in goal from Aydar Suniev.
- The Minutemen saw their season end with a narrow 2-1 loss to the No. 1-seeded Western Michigan Broncos, the eventual national champions. This was the first meeting between the two programs.

THE PROSPECT POOL
- The Massachusetts roster features seven NHL draft picks across five different franchises.
- UMass returns Nick VanTassell (Ottawa, 2023 seventh round), Cam O'Neill (Ottawa, 2022 fifth round), Larry Keenan (Detroit, 2023 fourth round), and Michael Hrabal (Arizona, 2023 second round)
- Wisconsin transfer Owen Mehlenbacher is a Detroit seventh round pick from the 2022 draft.
- Sophomore Francesco Dell'Elce was selected in the 2025 NHL draft by the Colorado Avalanche in the third round.
- Freshman Vaclav Nestrasil was selected 25th overall by Chicago in the 2025 NHL Draft. He became the highest drafted UMass forward and the second-highest draft pick in program history, trailing Cale Makar (Colorado, 2017 4th overall).

MINUTEMEN FROM AROUND THE WORLD
- UMass' 2025-26 roster is comprised of student-athletes from five different countries: Canada, Czechia, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United States.
- Six Europeans marks the most for the Minutemen in program history, with the previous high of five occurring most recently last season in 2024-25.
- There are three Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Ontario, British Columbia) represented and eight different states (Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey).
- Springfield native Kennedy O'Connor is the closest to home at 27 miles, while Vaclav Nestrasil and Michael Hrabal are the furthest from home (Prague, Czechia) at 3,963 miles.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
- UMass have gone 99-39-13 at the Mullins Center over the past six-plus seasons (2018-present) for a .699 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.

FAMILY TIES
- Lucas Ölvestad's father, Jimmie, played for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2001-2003 and Lucas was 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.
- Kennedy O'Connor's father, Thomas, played at UMass from 1994 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.
- Václav Nestrašil's older brother Andrej played 128 NHL games over three seasons (2014-17) with the Detroit Red Wings and Carolina Hurricanes. He is still playing professionally in their native Czechia.
- Jackson Irving's 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).
- 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).
- Owen Murray's great uncle Dallas Smith played for the Boston Bruins from 1966-1977 and was Bobby Orr's defensive partner.
- James Duerr's brother Sam played hockey at Maine (2021-23) and Bentley (2023-25).

Scoreboard