BOSTON - Strong defense led by junior goalie Max Lundgren and a third period goal by Ryan O’Connell lifted eighth-seeded Merrimack to a 2-0 shutout of second-seeded Massachusetts in the first semifinal of the 42nd annual Hockey East Championship Friday afternoon at TD Garden. The Warriors move on to take on the winner of the second semifinal between third-seeded Connecticut and second-seeded Boston College in Saturday’s championship game at 7 p.m. (TV-NESN; ESPN+).
Merrimack, winners in four straight and 5-0-1 in its last six, will play in the title game for the third time, its first since 2023, and will bid for its first Hockey East championship Saturday.
Lundgren stopped all 24 shots en route to his first shutout of the season, and the first in a Hockey East semifinal since Olympic hero Connor Hellebuyck of UMass Lowell blanked Notre Dame, 4-0, in the 2014 semis. Lundgren made 20 or his saves in the final two period, 10 in each. Merrimack’s defense also blocked 19 UMass attempts.
At 3:00 of the third, the Warriors broke through as Ty Daneault’s through pass from center ice sent in O’Connell on a breakaway. O’Connell beat UMass goalie Michael Hrabel low on the stick side for his fourth of the year.
UMass threatened for the equalizer but with Hrabel pulled for an extra attacker, Caden Cranston sealed it for the Warriors with an empty-net goal at 18:21. Parker Lalonde and Austin Oravetz picked up assists on Cranston’s seventh of the season.
Both teams started slow in the opening period with Merrimack having a 7-4 edge in shots despite having to kill a pair of early penalties. UMass nearly got on the board right before the first period horn as Jack Galanek, all alone in front, could not redirect a centering pass.on target Four minutes into the second, Warriors goalie Max Lundgren poke-checked one away from Minuteman forward Bo Cosman, cutting through the crease unguarded.
Later the middle period, Hrabel kept it scoreless robbing Caelna Fitzpatrick twice at the goal mouth on a Merrimack power play. Late in the stanza, Lundgren and his defense held off three great UMass chances, blocking a shot by Nick VanTassel in close and Lundgren saving his rebound. He also stopped Bo Cosman with a minute to go. Massachusetts had a slim 10-8 edge in shots in the second.
The Warriors went 0-2 on the power play, both in the first period while UMass was 0-for-3, all in the second period. Merrimack controlled the face-offs winning 43 of 73. Hrabel, named the 2026 Hockey East Player of the Year earlier in the week, finished with 27 saves.
With the win, Merrimack improves to 20-15-2 on the season, a turnaround after losing 20-plus games in each of the last two years. Both regular season meetings were also low scoring affairs with the Minuteman sweeping the home-and-home series, 2-1 and 3-1 in mid January.
UMass falls to 22-13-1 dropping the first-ever postseason game between the two schools. Selections for the 2026 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship will be announced Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m. on ESPNU and NCAA.com.
NOTES
• Friday night's Hockey East Semifinal matchup between Merrimack and Massachusetts marked the first-ever postseason meeting between the two programs.
• Friday night's HEA Semifinal appearance marked Massachusetts' ninth appearance in HEA Semifinal action (3-4) while it marked Merrimack's fourth appearance (2-1). The Warriors are making their second semifinal appearance in four years and first since 2023, when they defeated UMass Lowell to advance. Merrimack has made two trips to the Hockey East Championship game (2011, 2023), falling to Boston College and Boston University respectively, and is still seeking its first conference title.
• Massachusetts enters Friday's semifinal having won two Hockey East Championships (2021, 2022), both under current head coach Greg Carvel, and has reached the title game three times. The Minutemen are making their second semifinal appearance in three tournaments.
• Both Merrimack (19-15-1) and Massachusetts (22-12-1) enter Friday's semifinal having won three straight games and going 4-0-1 in their last five contests.
• UMass swept the regular season series against Merrimack, winning 2-1 on January 16 at Merrimack and 3-1 the following night at home on January 17.
• The first semifinal matchup remained scoreless through two periods – the last time a Hockey East Semifinal was scoreless through two periods was the 2023 tournament, when both matchups (Boston University vs. Providence and Merrimack vs. UMass Lowell) went scoreless through 40 minutes before each game saw a 1-1 tie in the third, sending both to overtime. Merrimack and Boston University went on to win their respective semifinals and advance to the Championship game.
• Merrimack’s Friday night victory marked the first time in Hockey East Tournament history that a No. 8 seed defeated a No. 2 seed in the semifinal round.
• Merrimack's Ryan O'Connell opened the scoring with his first career Hockey East Tournament goal, giving the Warriors a 1-0 lead. Ty Daneault collected the assist, his second career Hockey East Tournament point and second career tournament assist.
• Caden Cranston's empty net goal gives him two career Hockey East Tournament points (1g, 1a), while Parker Lalonde's assist brings him to three career tournament points (1g, 2a) and Austin Oravetz's assist gives him two career tournament points (2a).
• Merrimack improves to 6-5 in games decided by two goals this season.
• With the win, Merrimack advances to the Hockey East Championship game for the first time since 2023. Graduate student Mark Hillier is the lone member of the current roster who was part of that 2023 squad, which went on to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. Friday's victory also marked the Warriors' 20th win of the season after posting 20 or more losses in each of the last two seasons.
• Picking up his third career Hockey East Tournament win, goaltender Max Lundgren now has 1,060 saves on the season, leading both the Hockey East and the NCAA in total saves. Lundgren also leads all Hockey East goaltenders with 20 wins on the season. With the shutout, he becomes just the sixth goaltender to record a shutout in the Hockey East Semifinal round, joining Derek Herlofsky (BU), Sean Matile (UNH), Jimmy Howard (Maine), John Muse (BC) and Connor Hellebuyck (UML) – Hellebuyck who more recently accomplished the feat in 2014 with 35 saves against UND.
