Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Experience a factor in the Hockey East playoffs.

Last season, the Massachusetts hockey team brought 14 freshmen into the postseason and was swept by No. 1 Boston College in two games in the Hockey East quarterfinals.

Rehan Talat/Collegian

This season, those same freshmen are now sophomores heading into the playoffs to take on the No. 1 Eagles (25-10-1, 19-7-1 HEA) yet again. This time, they head into Conte Forum with a year of playoff experience under their belts.

“[The sophomores] definitely understand how [this series] will crank itself up,” said UMass coach Don Cahoon. “There’s no question a little bit of experience helps, but it really helps if you can win, and this group hasn’t done that enough yet.”

Serving as either role-players or healthy-scratches last year, many of the second-year players have found themselves serving as key contributors for the Minutemen (13-16-5, 9-14-4 HEA), including two of the team’s top three scorers.

Michael Pereira and Conor Sheary have spent most of the season paired up on the second line, and have shown flashes of brilliance. Pereira has tallied a team-high 17 goals on the season, including two hat tricks, and Sheary is second on the team in assists (22). Both players are second in points with 33 apiece.

The Minutemen also have additional playoff experience on the defensive end with Conor Allen (14 points) and Colin Shea (12 points), who have had a much bigger impact on the team as sophomores. In last season’s playoff meeting, both players were relatively ineffective, going a combined minus-3 for the weekend, but are expected to be more effective this time around.

“We had a lot of freshman last year and those guys are sophomores now,” said senior captain Danny Hobbs. “The confidence they have with that extra year under their belt is going to be huge for us.”

Even those sophomores who didn’t get to see ice time in last year’s series have been key difference-makers for UMass, particularly defenseman Joel Hanley. Hanley leads all blue-liners in points with 22 and has a plus-minus ratio of plus-11, which has helped him solidify a spot on the team’s top-defensive pairing with senior Michael Marcou.

Forwards Brandon Gracel and Steven Guzzo didn’t see game action in the postseason last year, but after productive sophomore campaigns that is expected to change. Gracel (20 points) and Guzzo (19 points) are sixth and seventh on the team in points, respectively.

Even that minimal playoff experience from many of the sophomores does not hurt the confidence Hobbs has in them.

“I think if everybody plays their game like we have in the games that we’ve won, then I think we’ll be fine,” said Hobbs.

One particular area where UMass lacks any postseason experience whatsoever is in net, where freshman goaltenders Kevin Boyle and Steve Mastalerz are both expected to get their first taste of playoff action.

“This will be a new experience for them,” said Cahoon. “How quickly they adapt will be pivotal.”

“It’s all about execution,” Cahoon added. “Sometimes maturity gives people that ability to put themselves in that mindset. These guys hopefully have enough experience over the course of this year to get themselves there.”

Something both netminders do have under their belts, despite their inexperience, is success against BC this season. Both Boyle and Mastalerz beat the Eagles. Boyle had the first showing and allowed two goals while making 24 saves in a 4-2 win on Nov. 5.

If Boyle was good, then Mastalerz was brilliant in his outing on Jan. 13, stopping 35 shots en route to a 4-0 shutout victory.

“Both of those guys have a win against BC,” said Cahoon. “That in itself tells me something. What they have to do is not get lost in that challenge by getting themselves pushed away from that simple concept of playing their position.

“They have to play the position at a high level,” Cahoon continued. “They have to be alert, prepared and energized to be able to execute.”

One of the major stories of the season for the Minutemen has been the goaltending carousel, as both Boyle (17 starts) and Mastalerz (10 starts) have seen their share of playing time, while sophomore Jeff Teglia made seven starts before going down with an injury, according to Cahoon.

Since Teglia’s absence, the two freshmen have been splitting time every weekend, each getting a start in one of the two games that particular week.

Cahoon is confident there is no need to break out of this consistent pattern despite it being the postseason.

“My confidence level is perfectly fine,” said Cahoon. “They both have the ability to win these games. I know they’re both very capable.”

“We’ve seen A-games and B-games this season, and if they bring their A-games they could be the difference in the series,” Cahoon continued.

Game 1 of this best-of-three series begins Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Conte Forum.

Nick Canelas can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Canelas.

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