With the history books ripped up and thrown away in the previous week, the Massachusetts hockey team nearly shocked the college hockey world again last Friday against No. 3 New Hampshire.
But it all came to a grinding halt in the Mass Attack’s Hockey East semifinal matchup with New Hampshire, as a late goal by the Wildcats’ Preston Callander propelled them to a 5-4 victory. Yet the Minutemen were still able to leave the FleetCenter with heads held high, knowing they had taken one of the nation’s top teams down to the wire.
“We have a tradition of getting on our feet and giving ourselves a hand if we win a game. We never do it when we lose a game, and tonight was the exception to the rule,” Cahoon said.
Callander’s game-winner came with 2:29 remaining, as linemate Justin Aikins threaded a feed through defenseman Nick Kuiper onto Callander’s stick. The sophomore, who had already notched a penalty shot tally against UMass on Jan. 17, foiled the Minutemen again as he rifled a shot inside the far post to send UNH into the championship game.
But the Wildcats had to survive two stirring comebacks by the underdog Minutemen, as UMass twice came back from two-goal deficits to keep the game close. The second rally occurred midway through the final period after the Wildcats had put home two early to take a 4-2 lead.
On a Minuteman power play, Marvin Degon’s shot from the point was stopped by UNH netminder Michael Ayers, who couldn’t completely cover up the puck. UMass’ Stephen Werner poked at the puck until it squirted pass Ayers, though replays showed that UNH defenseman Mick Mounsey helped guide the puck across the goal line just as much as Werner. The goal was Werner’s second of the game, and helped him earn All-Tournament honors.
Ten seconds later, the Minutemen caught the Wildcat defense snoozing off the faceoff, which sprung Mike Warner and Tim Turner free for a two-on-one break. Warner hit the streaking Turner with a cross-ice pass, and the senior lifted a shot over Ayers to knot the teams at four goals apiece.
“Our guys worked hard to get up by two, but then it disappeared really quickly,” UNH coach Dick Umile said. “Bad coverage on our part off the face off, and now it’s down to a nine-minute hockey game.”
The two teams remained scoreless until late in the first period, when a quick pair of goals by UNH’s Tim Horst and Joshua Prudden gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. But the Minutemen responded with two of their own in the second, as Werner put UMass on the scoreboard with a sensational end-to-end individual effort, and sophomore Greg Mauldin got the equalizer with a blast from the circle over Ayers’ shoulder.
“I’m happy that after they scored those first two goals, we didn’t melt. I’m not surprised by that, because we’ve lived by one credo all season long, let’s not play the scoreboard, let’s just play the game.” Cahoon said. “We’re obviously disappointed with the result, but at the same time we’re very proud of this young and clearly ambitious group of people.”
“I think with the first [comeback], none of us had played in the Hockey East championships, so after we got rid of the butterflies, we were able to come out in the second period and get a lot of chances,” Werner added. “The second time was just hard work and perseverance.”
Despite the loss, the Maroon and White know that the last few weeks can be a building block for next season with nearly its entire roster returning.
“We exceeded everybody’s expectations this year,” Warner said. “I think this whole experience we’ve had, coming to the FleetCenter for the first time, you can only look at this in a positive way.”
