There’s a belief in the hockey community that young defensemen take longer to develop compared to young forwards.

The opposite may be true on this season’s UMass hockey team as freshmen defensemen Francesco Dell’Elce and Larry Keenan have taken major strides in their development 23 games into their first year of college hockey, according to head coach Greg Carvel.

“Larry Keenan and Dell’Elce are really starting to come,” Carvel said following the Minutemen’s 5-2 win over Merrimack last Saturday. “We knew they’d need half a season to get their feet under them and I think their games are really starting to come.”

The two first-year blueliners have been stapled next to each other on UMass’ second D-pair for essentially the entire season. The rest of the Minutemen D-corps features all upperclassmen, save for fellow freshman Finn Loftus, so Dell’Elce and Keenan have taken on the new challenges of NCAA-level hockey together.

“Ideally you have the younger guy with a veteran guy who can come back to the bench and talk out situations, but also, baptism by fire for those two guys, just throw them in and make them swim,” Carvel said.

Playing together is nothing new for the two rearguards though as Dell’Elce and Keenan were also D-partners in junior hockey with the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League last season. Having that pre-established relationship has helped both players tremendously.

“We always kind of grew up knowing who each other was, but never actually met, because we’re both from Ontario,” Dell’Elce said. “We both met in Penticton and after a full year, last year developing together to now coming here together, I think the relationship is strong. We trust each other, we know how to read off each other on the ice. I think it’s very beneficial for us.”

“I know where he’s going to be most times,” Keenan said. “We’re good offensively on the blue line, making plays, and defensively, breaking pucks out, you always know that you have someone to help you out.”

It’s less than a 45-minute drive between Dell’Elce’s hometown of King City, Ontario to Midhurst, Ontario, where Keenan grew up. The duo have never been far apart and before becoming teammates, the two were rivals during their prep-school days as Keenan starred for Culver Military Academy and Dell’Elce was with St. Andrew’s College.

Dell’Elce is making more of a mark on the scoresheet with the Minutemen this season with 17 points compared to Keenan’s three points. However, both feel like their play away from the opposing goalie has been their most notable improvement.

“I feel like a lot of it has just been my confidence,” Keenan said. “Setting good gaps defensively. On my breakouts, I feel like I can read the pressure a lot better than when I started. A lot of it was just adjusting and growing my confidence.”

“I think the biggest difference for me between last year and this year has been my defensive game,” Dell’Elce said. “I’m becoming more reliable and trustworthy in those defensive situations. I’ve always kind of had that offensive side to my game.”

The pairing’s plus/minus has backed up those statements as Dell’Elce and Keenan are a combined plus-15. UMass’ top D-pair of Lucas Olvestad and Owen Murray is a plus-seven.

Given the ultra-competitive nature of Hockey East this season, every conference game is going to matter for the Minutemen down the stretch. With 13 games of Hockey East experience already under their belts, Dell’Elce and Keenan have been impressed by the caliber of talent within the conference night in and night out. 

“I always knew how competitive Hockey East is, but I didn’t realize how tight it is until I got here,” Dell’Elce said. “Every night is a battle, every team is a great team and you’re going to get your best out of every guy you play, every single night so it’s really fun to be a part of.”

“The pace of it is pretty fast,” Keenan said. “I definitely like it. You can make plays with people on our team and it’s definitely fun.”

STATS GALORE 

 During Carvel’s weekly media availability this past Tuesday, the ninth-year bench boss shared some insight into the team’s analytics to this point.

Essentially, Carvel said the Minutemen are within the top-12 in the nation in every analytic, except for expected goals. Expected goals is a stat that measures how likely a shot will become a goal, and according to Carvel, the stats say UMass should be scoring more than it is and it is allowing more goals than expected.

“So that's really the only analytic, that's probably the most important analytic, but we're getting a ton of chances,” Carvel said. “We need to find ways to score goals. We're out chancing teams most every night, and then our goaltenders need to make a little more timely saves.”

Shifting to traditional stats that are publicly available, something that immediately sticks out is that when the Minutemen get a lead, they’re tough to beat. UMass is 11-6-1 when scoring the first goal, 8-3-1 when up after 20 minutes and 10-2-0 when leading after two periods. 

On the flip side, the Minutemen have not won a game after giving up the first goal or when trailing after the first period (0-4-1). 

Another stat to keep note of is UMass’ home record. What has usually been a calling card of Carvel’s Minutemen squads has struggled this season, as they’ve won just three of nine games at the Mullins Center this year. UMass has had a home winning percentage below .500 only once since Carvel took over behind that bench, and that was all the way back in 2016-17, the year it won five games.

RECRUIT UPDATE

 The Minutemen received a couple of commitments over the last couple weeks, including one player that may suit up for the Maroon and White as soon as next season.

First, 16-year-old Evan Foiles of the Bishop Kearney Selects under-16 team officially committed earlier this week. Foiles is a a right-shot center that has put up 14 goals and 29 points in 42 games this season. According to collegehockeyinc.com, Foiles isn’t expected to arrive to Amherst until the 2027-28 season.

Next, A.J. Lacroix announced via Instagram on Wednesday that he has flipped his commitment from Michigan State to UMass. Lacroix is a 19-year-old winger, currently playing with the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Former Minutemen Cale and Taylor Makar, as well as Oliver Chau played for the Bandits before enrolling at UMass.

Lacroix was expected to join the Spartans next year, so it’s likely he’ll be with the Minutemen beginning in the fall of 2025.