University of Massachusets Athletics
Saturday, February 7
Amherst, Mass.
7:30 p.m.
University of Massachusetts
17-11-0, 10-8-0
5
vs
2
UMass Lowell
10-18-0, 6-12-0
1
2
3
F
UMass Lowell
1
1
0
2
Massachusetts
2
1
2
5
#19 Massachusetts Hockey Takes Season Series Against UMass Lowell With 5-2 Win
February 07, 2026 | Hockey
AMHERST, Mass. – No. 19 Massachusetts hockey used a strong start to skate to a 5-2 victory over UMass Lowell on Saturday night at the Mullins Center. With the win, the Minutemen improve to 17-11-0 overall and 10-8-0 in Hockey East, while the River Hawks drop to 10-18-0 and 6-12-0 in league action.
"It was great bounce back from last night's game where I didn't think we showed much," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "We portrayed this as a playoff game tonight, since we don't play for two weeks. We wanted to go out feeling good about ourselves in the break and I thought our first period was outstanding. We almost had a 3-0 lead, that quickly changed on us. When you play Lowell, it's always going to be a heavy, physical game, but I thought we did a really good job keeping them on the outside and I thought (Michael) Hrabal looked outstanding. I thought Larry Keenan was huge factor in the game. He made plays, set guys up and was outstanding defensively, skated us out of trouble a lot of times. I'm very, very proud of the group."
Senior Owen Murray opened the scoring 5:01 into the first, evading UMass Lowell defenders and driving to the net after picking up the puck from sophomore Daniel Jencko in the neutral zone.
Just 28 seconds later, freshman Jack Galanek doubled the lead. After winning an offensive zone faceoff, Galanek went to the net front to clean up a Jack Musa rebound.
It appeared the Minutemen had added a third tally at the 12:32 mark with Justin Kerr poking the puck home. However, a successful challenge by the River Hawks kept the score at 2-0.
Then UMass Lowell cut its deficit in half at 13:33. Jak Vaarwerk and Dominic Payne won the puck down low and sent it up to the left point for Josh Mori. Mori's shot hit a body in front and deflected past Hrabal.
Midway through the second, the River Hawks pulled level with UMass. Vaarwerk fed Libor Nemec from along the half wall and Nemec skated down the slot for the finish 11:13 into the frame.
With the score tied at 2-2. Kerr put the Minutemen back on top before the second intermission. Sophomore Larry Keenan created a turnover in the defensive zone and broke up the ice with Kerr on the rush. Upon entering the UMass Lowell end, Keenan fed Kerr on the wing for the shot and score at 15:32.
Keenan sprung Jack Musa on a shorthanded breakaway that Musa put past netminder Samuel Richard to give UMass a two-goal cushion 1:58 into the third.
Freshman Lukáš Klecka capped the scoring in the closing seconds, with an empty net goal, set up by Musa and Galanek.
The River Hawks out-shot the Minutemen 35-30 and were 0-for-3 on the power play, while UMass was 0-for-2.
Hrabal finished with 33 saves and Austin Elliott and Richard had 16 and nine saves, respectively, for UMass Lowell.
UMass will be idle next weekend and will return to action on Friday, February 20, when the squad will host New Hampshire at 7 p.m.
"It was great bounce back from last night's game where I didn't think we showed much," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "We portrayed this as a playoff game tonight, since we don't play for two weeks. We wanted to go out feeling good about ourselves in the break and I thought our first period was outstanding. We almost had a 3-0 lead, that quickly changed on us. When you play Lowell, it's always going to be a heavy, physical game, but I thought we did a really good job keeping them on the outside and I thought (Michael) Hrabal looked outstanding. I thought Larry Keenan was huge factor in the game. He made plays, set guys up and was outstanding defensively, skated us out of trouble a lot of times. I'm very, very proud of the group."
Senior Owen Murray opened the scoring 5:01 into the first, evading UMass Lowell defenders and driving to the net after picking up the puck from sophomore Daniel Jencko in the neutral zone.
Just 28 seconds later, freshman Jack Galanek doubled the lead. After winning an offensive zone faceoff, Galanek went to the net front to clean up a Jack Musa rebound.
It appeared the Minutemen had added a third tally at the 12:32 mark with Justin Kerr poking the puck home. However, a successful challenge by the River Hawks kept the score at 2-0.
Then UMass Lowell cut its deficit in half at 13:33. Jak Vaarwerk and Dominic Payne won the puck down low and sent it up to the left point for Josh Mori. Mori's shot hit a body in front and deflected past Hrabal.
Midway through the second, the River Hawks pulled level with UMass. Vaarwerk fed Libor Nemec from along the half wall and Nemec skated down the slot for the finish 11:13 into the frame.
With the score tied at 2-2. Kerr put the Minutemen back on top before the second intermission. Sophomore Larry Keenan created a turnover in the defensive zone and broke up the ice with Kerr on the rush. Upon entering the UMass Lowell end, Keenan fed Kerr on the wing for the shot and score at 15:32.
Keenan sprung Jack Musa on a shorthanded breakaway that Musa put past netminder Samuel Richard to give UMass a two-goal cushion 1:58 into the third.
Freshman Lukáš Klecka capped the scoring in the closing seconds, with an empty net goal, set up by Musa and Galanek.
The River Hawks out-shot the Minutemen 35-30 and were 0-for-3 on the power play, while UMass was 0-for-2.
Hrabal finished with 33 saves and Austin Elliott and Richard had 16 and nine saves, respectively, for UMass Lowell.
UMass will be idle next weekend and will return to action on Friday, February 20, when the squad will host New Hampshire at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
UML
UMA
Shots
35
30
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
1
Penalties
3
3
Penalty Mins
14
6
Faceoffs Won
36
26
Game Leaders
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
2
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
2
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
7
A
0
Players Mentioned
F
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/ HockeyUMass IH | Coach Greg Carvel Post Game Press Conference vs UMass Lowell | 02.07.26
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