The game-winning goal for UMass came from freshman Rielly Cavanaugh in the overtime period to shock the Engineers and hand them a loss in their first road game of the young season.
During practice this past week, UMass coach Mike Atkinson said the team focused on getting away from playing with too much style by getting back to the basics and just playing to win the game.
“All week we talked about shooting to score and shooting for rebounds,” Atkinson said. “As a team, we all wanted to score the highlight-film type goals, and we really needed to get back to the basics of shooting for rebounds.”
All of the things that the team worked on in practice began to settle in during the second period for the Minutemen. That turning point occurred when sophomore Dan O’Quinn scored a goal with 19 minutes remaining in the period.
“From that point on in the game we were rolling and we really began to click,” Atkinson said.
Sophomore Craig Charest and senior captain Matt Coughlin both stepped up and played key roles on defense side of the ice for UMass to get the win over RPI.
“Charest and Coughlin really held down the defensive end for us and forced our offense to push the puck forward,” Atkinson said.
The overtime victory and four goals came after a scoring drought at the Houston Field House against the Engineers kept UMass from putting any goals on the board last weekend.
“The biggest thing that changed from last Saturday was our mind set,” Atkinson said. “We went in to the game last weekend thinking that we could win and on Friday night we knew we would win.”
After the win, UMass’ record in the Northeast Region of the American Collegiate Hockey Association now stands at three wins and two losses. The team currently has a goal differential of plus three, with 21 goals for the team thus far in the season.
The strongest play for the Minutemen has occurred during their play at home in the Mullins Center where the team has won all three of their games. UMass’ road games have been a different story, where they have lost their first two games and have only amassed three goals.
After receiving their first loss of the regular season, RPI’s record stood at four wins and one loss, which placed them one point ahead of Vermont. The Engineers took on the Catamounts on Saturday and were handed a major loss, getting shutout 5-0.
This weekend, the Minutemen will travel to Sacred Heart University in Fairfield Conn., home of UMass senior forward Nick Crowley and Westfield State on Friday and Saturday respectively, to play a pair of games. In previous games this season, UMass has beaten the Pioneers 8-4 and the Owls 6-3, respectively.
Robert Hanlon can be reached at [email protected].
