Historically, the Massachusetts hockey team has always fared better against certain schools. While squads like Boston University and Maine have traditionally had the Maroon and White’s number, other schools like Providence and Northeastern have proven to be better matchups.
Still, with games against the latter two schools this weekend, don’t expect Head Coach Don Cahoon’s troops to bring any extra confidence into the weekend.
“Whether there’s a subconscious state of mind, it shouldn’t factor in because those teams can play against anybody,” Cahoon said.
The Minutemen (1-2-0, 0-1-0 Hockey East) open up the bulk of their Hockey East schedule this Friday and Saturday with showdowns against the No. 11 Friars and Huskies, respectively. With all the struggles UMass endured last season, it was still able to muster solid efforts in its six games with the two teams. The Minutemen collected all three of their conference wins in 2001-02 against PC and NU, and their three defeats were all by a margin of a single goal.
But Cahoon doesn’t really think the success enjoyed is anything more than a favorable matchup with the two teams.
“In terms of style of play, maybe we measure up better,” the third-year coach said.
The Friars, despite not having played a powerhouse team so far this season, enter Friday’s contest at the Mullins Center with an unblemished 5-0-0 record. PC has ganged up on such college hockey cupcakes as Union and MSU-Mankato, but has done so in impressive fashion. The Friars have outscored their opposition by a whopping margin of 32-11, including an 11-0 pasting of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doormat Iona. PC also faces its first matchup away from Schneider Arena when it travels to Amherst.
Providence’s top trio of Devin Rask, Peter Fregoe and Jon DiSalvatore has combined for a stellar 15 goals and 23 assists alone in the Friars’ first five games. At the other end of the ice, the goaltending tandem of freshman Bobby Goepfert and senior stalwart Nolan Schaefer has been rock-solid, posting a combined 2.17 GAA and .932 save percentage.
Saturday’s trek to Matthews Arena to take on Northeastern marks the first time the Minutemen will be hitting the road, after opening with four consecutive Mullins Center dates. The Huskies (1-2-2, 0-0-1 HE) have been an interesting team to watch so far this season, as they have shown signs of a great team (with a blowout win against UConn and a tie with No. 1 New Hampshire) and signs of a struggling team (a 5-1 loss at home to Wisconsin).
NU suffered a major loss on the blueline this offseason in the departure of Hobey Baker candidate Jim Fahey, but a few Huskies have stepped up to replace the scoring punch that Fahey provided. Sophomore forward Jason Guerriero has notched six points (2g, 4a) to lead the team so far, while freshman Mike Morris has made an immediate impact, tallying five points, good for second on the team. Last year’s Hockey East rookie sensation Keni Gibson has started off the year strong as well, despite having not garnered a victory so far. Gibson enters the weekend with a 2.53 GAA and a .926 save percentage.
With such a young team, team unity is crucial in terms of building the bridge to success. In that respect, the Maroon and White’s first away game of the year could be considered a blessing. But then again, with the Minutemen being a group as large as it is young, many of Cahoon’s players will be missing the first opportunity outside of the home rink.
“We’ve got so many people in and out of the lineup, so not everyone’s going out on the road,” Cahoon said. “But a lot of the young guys are looking forward to going out and just seeing the rest of the league.”
Special teams has proved to be quite a bit of a nuisance for the Minutemen this year, as their power play (7.7) and penalty kill (53.8) percentages have both been less than stellar. But despite the abysmal numbers, Cahoon has seen positives in both the man-advantage and disadvantage, and expects those numbers to dramatically improve.
“The penalty kill has been really good, except on the end,” Cahoon said, adding that failure to clear the zone towards the end of the kill has caused the Minutemen to allow the high number of power-play goals. He also said that the power play has looked impressive in practice and added “practice and game situations are completely different.”
Faceoff for both of this weekend’s games is slated for 7 p.m.
