NCAA Weekender: With UMass surging, has Hrabal entered Hobey chat?

Recapping the biggest stories of the NCAA weekend.

AMHERST, Massachusetts — On Jan. 9, the UMass Minutemen were a game below .500, looking at a lost season.

"The beginning of the year, I did not think this was a great team," said coach Greg Carvel. "But they've become a very good team."

That might be an understatement. Since that home loss to BU, they are 14-2-1, on the precipice of an NCAA tournament bid, and through to the Hockey East semifinal for the first time in two years.

On Saturday, they defeated Northeastern, 4-1, in a Hockey East quarterfinal that kept their season alive.

A big reason why? The play of goaltender Michael Hrabal. While he was very good for most of last season, he was not in the first half this year, posting a sub.-900 save percentage in 11 appearances and missing almos