Halftime is usually a time for a team to regroup and think back on what it has done, but most of all to look ahead at what it can do to improve in the second half.
That is exactly the situation facing the Massachusetts hockey team over the next two weeks, as it is on its end-of-semester break before a pair of games at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Christmas tournament.
The Minutemen stand at a seemingly disappointing 6-10-0, with a 2-7-0 record in the Hockey East conference. But in retrospect, the only reason for disappointment in the first half of the season was the fact that the Minutemen were only a few plays away from winning more games than they did.
The fact is, of the Maroon and White’s 10 losses, nine came to teams ranked in the Top 15. The one loss that it suffered to a team outside of the Top 15 was a 3-2 loss at Providence, Nov. 2. The only reason that the Friars were outside of the rankings is that they fell to the Minutemen earlier in the week in Providence, on the short end of a 4-3 score.
UMass has won all of the games that it was “supposed” to win going into the season, with victories over Niagara, Northeastern, Connecticut and Vermont. Additionally, the Maroon and White won two games that they were not forecast to win – the aforementioned victory against Providence and a 4-0 pasting in paying visit to preseason Top 15 member Dartmouth over Thanksgiving.
True, Head Coach Don Cahoon has far higher expectations of his team, but UMass has one of the toughest schedules in the nation. UMass’ schedule is the sixth toughest in Division I in terms of opponents’ winning percentage. All in all, the Minutemen are showing significant signs of improvement over last year’s team that went 8-22-4. But had a few bounces gone another way, the Maroon and White certainly could have been on the winning end of the four one-goal losses it suffered, which would have left the team 6-3 in conference – good enough for second place in the league.
But taking positives away from what was in truth a subpar first half of the season is not what will bring this team to the next level in college hockey. What may bring the team to the next level is a successful January – a month that is vital for the Minutemen as they enter the heart of their conference schedule.
January brings seven Hockey East contests, one with Boston College, two with Merrimack, two with New Hampshire and two with Northeastern. Those four teams had a combined 5-5-2 record against the Maroon and White last year, but UNH (against whom UMass was 2-1-0) is greatly improved, and two wins against the Wildcats again would be quite a challenge.
As for the players, nearly every man who took the ice for the Maroon and White had his up and down moments. The most pleasant surprises have been freshmen Greg Mauldin and Craig MacDonald, as well as sophomore defenseman Nick Kuiper.
Mauldin and MacDonald have teamed up with junior Tim Turner to form one of the more offensive lines for the team. The two have combined for 13 points, and are tied for second on the team in goals with four. Mauldin leads the team in both plus/minus (plus-5) and shots (58).
Kuiper arrived midseason last year as one of the most highly touted prospects on the team. This year, he has combined strong defense with an offensive knack to become one of the team’s best blueliners. His six assists rank him second behind fellow defenseman Toni S
