The No. 19 Massachusetts hockey team’s defensemen combined for seven points in a 4-0 thrashing of New Hampshire. Larry Keenan and Francesco Dell’Elce paired back up together after a long hiatus apart, and scored a goal each. Both Lucas Ölvestad and Owen Murray continued their strong campaigns since the Minutemen (18-11, 11-8 Hockey East) returned from break.
“Those four guys that we rode hard last year, we were going to ride them hard again here,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “Yeah, it was good for Dell’Elce. He got three points tonight. I don’t think he’s put it in the back of the net in a long time, so much like our power play goal, it’s going to be good for him just for his confidence, but a three point night is big for a defenseman.”
In the first few minutes of the third period, following a Lukáš Klečka shot, the puck worked its way up to Dell’Elce at the point. The 6-foot-1 defenseman switched the puck across the blue line to Keenan, who quickly returned the puck back to his partner.
Dell’Elce received the puck on his forehand while moving left while Wildcats (12-16-1, 6-12-1 HEA) forward Jacob Newcombe stepped into the shooting lane. The Canadian defenseman disposed of Newcombe with a quick deke, binging the puck in, then back out around to find space just before the left circle. The sophomore perfectly timed his shot while Justin Kerr crossed the goalmouth, blocking Kyle Chauvette’s view of the incoming shot past his glove side.
In the first period, UMass obtained a power play when Nick Ring went to the box for hooking. The power play unit came into the contest without a goal in 2026, but that changed about 40 seconds into the man advantage.
Dell’Elce took the puck himself across the top of the slot. While moving left he dropped the the puck for Václav Nestrašil. The Czechia native switched his edges and snapped a pass to Keenan on the right face-off circle.
Keenan received the puck and calmly took it a few inches forward with his first touch. His second touch was a quick stick-handle towards the goal. Then, his third, a wrist shot fired into the net. The shot was placed just off the far post for his second power play goal of the season and goal No. 10 of his career.
“I think Larry Keenan’s an NHL defenseman all day,” New Hampshire head coach Mike Souza said. “I told Carvel that this morning. I had a chance to coach him last month.”
Since the winter break, one of either Dell’Elce or Keenan has contributed to just under 40% of the teams goals. Keenan is up to nine points in his last eight games and Dell’Elce has registered seven points in that time frame. Now, the two of them are on the same defensive pairing together again, similar to the majority of last season.
“It’s definitely nice [to play with Dell’Elce] like last year,” Keenan said. “I know his tendencies and know what he’s going to do with the puck, so it was nice to to play with him.”
The Minutemen will travel to Durham, N.H. on Saturday Feb. 21, to complete the home-and-home against the Wildcats. New Hampshire remains at the bottom of the HEA, while UMass push for a potential top-three finish. The game is at 7 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+
Myles Donato can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @myles_donato.
