The No. 17 Massachusetts hockey team narrowly squeaked out a win against No. 13 Boston College in its final regular-season home contest of the year. The Minutemen (20-12-1, 13-9-1 Hockey East) survived a roller coaster script through goals from Cam O’Neill and Owen Murray.
The win also clinched UMass home ice in the quarterfinals of the HEA Tournament, and sent them above the Eagles (19-13-1, 13-10 HEA) in the conference standings.
“I’m very proud of our group,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “To win 20 games in a season is the standard of our team. We’ve secured home ice in the first round, and we are very happy with this group. It was far from our best game, but to beat good teams and not have our best game is a good sign for me.”
Despite giving up a goal to tie the game at one a piece a couple of minutes prior, the Minutemen and Murray produced one of the biggest moments of the season.
With 12 minutes left to go in the contest, Boston College’s Teddy Stiga unloaded a wrist shot towards the net. Murray was there to produce one of his two blocks of the night. The puck trickled to Lukáš Klečka, who sent Murray to the races on a two-on-one.
With Daniel Jenčko to his left, the Manitoba native waited until the final second to whiz a game-winning strike past Louka Cloutier’s blocker side.
“Give the kids a ton of credit,” Carvel said. “They played a gutsy game. Boston College scores and we come right back. Owen Murray really shined as a captain and as a senior … I think those guys tonight showed their heart and soul, and what it means to play for our program.”
Just four minutes into the second period, UMass opened the scoring through O’Neill’s fourth goal of the season. Despite the Minutemen trailing in the shots-on-goal department by a vast margin, they were still able to manufacture a Grade A opportunity through two players who have been at the forefront of the UMass hot streak in the last two months.
Eagles defenseman Drew Fortescue attempted to clear the puck out of the defensive zone, only to find Coleson Hanrahan, who chipped it towards the blue line. Owen Mehlenbacher picked it up and waited patiently for O’Neill to clear the zone. The Ontario native dished it off to the junior forward, who discharged a laser past Cloutier’s right blocker.
“We needed that momentum shift,” O’Neill said. “We weren’t getting enough pucks to the net, so when I got that pass, all I was thinking about was a shot. I saw it go in, and it was a great feeling.”
Boston College answered O’Neill’s goal in the third period off an awkward bounce behind a confused Michael Hrabal. James Hagens, the Boston Bruins’ 2025 first-round draft pick, scissored his way through the offensive zone past multiple Minutemen defensemen on the power play.
Once he got past the duo of Larry Keenan and Francesco Dell’Elce, he fired a shot that snuck through Hrabal’s five-hole. Before the Czech native found the puck in the blue crease behind him, Hagens flipped it in to tie the game.
Cloutier exited his cage with 96 seconds remaining, but Hrabal and the UMass defense stood strong to deny the Eagles an overtime.
“I genuinely think it’s unfortunate [Hrabal] isn’t in the Hobey Baker race, because he should win the Richter [Award],” Murray said. “I don’t think there is a better player in the country than Michael Hrabal.”
The junior netminder ended the game with 34 saves and only one goal allowed. He continued his incredible 2026 run, posting a .971 save percentage in another impressive performance.
The Minutemen will head to Durham, N.H., on Saturday, March 7, for their final game of the season before the HEA Tournament. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Ezekiel Altman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @EzekielAltman.
