The last time Paul Dainton and John Muse stood directly across from each other at the Mullins Center, symmetry emerged as the games predominant theme.

Both players are freshman, both are goaltenders and both backstopped teams who, at the time, looked destined for a potential, more meaningful showdown at the TD Banknorth Garden about five weeks from now. Even the game’s outcome – a 1-1 tie – and the two goals scored came off plays in similar circumstances.

But things have been the same for Dainton and Muse since their collegiate careers began.

Dainton (8-8-6, 2.45 goals-against average) came to the Massachusetts hockey team with the task of replacing all-American Jon Quick. And Muse (11-5-7, 2.28 goals-against average) became the man in Chestnut Hill once another all-American, Cory Schneider, decided the Vancouver Canucks farm system – and a fat singing bonus – were more appealing than another season at The Heights.

“It shows how our league is so competitive, and how they really do get the top players in the country to come here because [Muse and Dainton] are two great young hockey players. It works well in their favor that two of the top goalies in the country left, obviously with our team and Schneider at BC, last year,” UMass senior captain Mike Kostka said. “That’s how things work out in our league; it’s definitely nice to see to young guys taking the reigns.”

There was no competition at BC for the starting job. After Schneider turned pro there was not a single goaltender in the program with any college hockey experience. Dainton, however, competed with sophomore Dan Meyers for playing time when practice began. He started the season opener – a 2-1 overtime loss at Clarkson. But not until a pulled groin muscle sidelined Meyers after a 3-1 win over Saint Lawrence in the season’s second game did Dainton become the unquestioned starter.

After the tie in November, both UMass coach Don Cahoon and BC’s Terry York lauded the play of their rookie net minders, and wondered what the future held for the pair. The following evening, UMass defeated BC 3-2 at Conte Forum in another great battle between the goaltenders. In the pair of games that weekend, Dainton made 64 and allowed three goals in the two games while Muse allowed four goals and stopped 63 shots.

“John and Paul are very similar mentally because they both stay very even keeled. After giving up a bad goal or having a bad game, they’re ready to bounce right back,” UMass goaltending coach Mike Buckley said.

The similarities end, however, when the two goalies hit the ice. Dainton relies heavily on his athleticism while Muse is a stand-up goalie who depends upon his positioning to keep pucks out of the net.

Buckley, who privately coached Muse for some time, knows both well.

“They’re totally different,” he said. “John is a bigger goalie. He’s less reactive and relies more on blocking. Paul is a much better skater, and he can get into position quicker which he has to because of his size. Paul’s more of a scrambler whereas John is a one-shot-at-a-time style goaltender, and that works well with the Boston College defense because they’re able to clear them out.”

“[Muse] moves laterally very quickly and he likes to come out of the net to force shooters to shoot into him,” junior Cory Quirk said.

“He goes down a lot. So when we’re in tight to him, we have to get the puck up and under the crossbar. We’ve focused on that in practice this week, just getting the puck high and burying it when we get the chance.”

The Minutemen will also look to capitalize on Muse’s weak puck skills. A majority of UMass’s successful offensive rushes are born of passes sent into the offensive zone and wrapped around the net; a slip up from Muse could give the Minutemen a quality scoring opportunity.

“John is not as good playing the puck as Paul,” Buckley said. “Paul is better than anyone in the country at making plays with the puck.”

But Buckley also knows the weaknesses of Muse’s counterpart, and didn’t like some of the things he saw when UMass’s descent in the Hockey East standings began. Dainton allowed too many rebounds and some soft goals that became even more troublesome once UMass’s offense hit a lull – the Minutemen have scored two or less goals in four of their last six games.

A simple stick-positioning adjustment changed this for Dainton. Buckley noticed that he was holding blocker slightly lower than he should have in his stance. This pulled the blade of the stick slightly out of position, so rather than hitting his stick, shots slipped through and deflected off his skate back into the slot.

With nine games remaining on the schedule, the Minutemen know they cannot afford to lose any more ground. No one knows this more than Dainton, but the pressure isn’t something that worries him anymore. Twenty-two games into his career at UMass, Dainton knows exactly what it takes to win hockey games at this level.

But that isn’t going to make Friday any easier because John Muse has learned a thing or two in his first year too.

Joe Meloni can be reached at [email protected].