Larry Keenan, the Massachusetts hockey team’s stand-out defenseman, corralled the puck in his own defensive zone with seven minutes left in the second period. With his team in desperate need of a spark, he patiently skated up ice with the puck. Then, while the Northeastern defensive unit fell asleep, Keenan pounced. The Ontario native swiftly finessed the puck between both Dylan Compton and Jack Henry and fired a backhanded shot past the left shoulder of Lawton Zacher.
“I was kind of late into a shift,” Keenan said. “I was a little tired, so my feet weren’t moving the fastest, but I saw some space and took advantage of it. Backhand side, bar down, it was pretty nice.”
Throughout the night, the Minutemen (15-10, 8-7 Hockey East) needed a response against the threatening Huskies’ (12-12, 7-9 HEA) offense. On almost every occasion throughout the night, though, Keenan gave UMass the critical play it needed to defeat Northeastern 3-2 in overtime.
“[I’ve seen tonight out of Keenan] what I’ve seen all year,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “He does it all over the ice. He breaks us out of our zone, he gets us out of trouble, he kills plays, he can play heavy and he can add to the offense. His game has grown significantly in the year and two thirds that he’s been here. Quietly and unassumingly, he’s an unbelievable college hockey player.”
Keenan provided moments like those to tally his third goal in four games, but has also led a defensive effort that has propelled the Minutemen into six straight wins.
To finish off the win, with less than 30 seconds left in the overtime period, Keenan made another critical play to seal the game. UMass forward Jack Galanek drew two Huskies onto him in the offensive zone and dished it to a wide-open Keenan. Instead of taking a shot with seconds ticking off the clock, he laid the puck off to Justin Kerr, who rifled a shot into the back of the net to win the Minutemen the contest.
“[Keenan] just made a little drop play that we work on in practice,” Carvel said. “That was a heck of a shot by [Kerr right after].”
The sophomore tallied two points on the night, but each came differently. His first goal came through skill and finesse, while his overtime assist represented the unselfish and impressive play that led Carvel to compare him to some of UMass’ all-time greats.
“[Keenan’s] an outstanding player,” Carvel said. “We’ll talk about Cale Makar. I’ll always talk about Ryan Ufko and some other good defenseman we’ve had here, and Larry Keenan will be on that list. He’s a phenomenal player.”
Despite his monumental effort on Friday night, Keenan wasn’t quick to throw himself in that category of player just yet.
“It’s a big honor to have that support from [Carvel],” Keenan said. “He gives me the opportunity to go make plays and stuff like that, which is nice. I don’t think I’m nearly as good as those other guys yet, but hopefully one day.”
His name was a consistent fixture in Carvel’s press conferences throughout last season as he developed into the player he is now.
“I think it all started building off of last year,” Keenan said. “Just getting to see the older guys play hard and fast [was big]. I guess this year I’ve gotten that confidence as a second-year guy.”
The Minutemen will travel to Lowell on Sunday for an afternoon clash against UMass Lowell for the second game of the weekend. Puck drop is at 3:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Ezekiel Altman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @EzekielAltman.
