The timing could not have been better for the Massachusetts hockey team.
After coming up short in their first 11 tries, the Minutemen (10-13-5, 6-11-4 Hockey East) finally notched their first road win of the season last Friday, stunning then-No. 1 Boston University, 3-2, at Agganis Arena.
The win improved UMass’ record on the road to 1-9-2 as it heads into possibly its toughest test of the season.
Up next for the Minutemen are back-to-back road games against No. 11 Maine, a team they are 0-1-1 against on the season.
The most recent meeting between the two teams took place in the final of the Florida Everblades College Hockey Classic in Estero, Fla., one in which the Black Bears (17-9-3, 14-8-2 HEA) dominated from start-to-finish, and skated past UMass, 5-2.
The first meeting, however, was much closer as the Minutemen overcame a 2-0 first period deficit to salvage a 2-2 tie at the Mullins Center on Nov. 18.
This weekend’s upcoming series is significant for both teams as each is looking to improve its seeding in the Hockey East in order to make a strong playoff push.
UMass is currently tied with Northeastern for the final playoff spot and needs every point it can get as it looks to keep its hopes for another postseason run alive.
Maine, on the other hand, is tied for fourth in the HEA standings with Merrimack, but is only two points out of the top spot, which is currently held by UMass Lowell.
“Do I recognize that this is going to be an enormous challenge? Sure,” said UMass coach Don Cahoon. “We need the same penalty-killing unit we’ve had pretty much for the last month and that’s one step in the right direction. Staying out of the [penalty] box is another step in the right direction.”
There have been numerous things the Black Bears have done to find success this season, but one thing they have done exceptionally well is score goals.
Outscoring its opponents 101-83 this season, Maine scores an average of 3.5 goals per game on just 31.9 shots. The offensive attack has been especially potent on the power play, where the Black Bears have converted a whopping 29.3 percent of their chances.
Leading the attack for Maine is senior forward Spencer Abbot, who has registered a team-high 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) on the season.
Also contributing as major scoring threats for the Black Bears are senior forward Brian Flynn (14 goals, 26 assists and 40 points) and junior forward Joey Diamond. Diamond’s 18 goals is also a team-best.
The Minutemen will have a daunting task ahead of them trying to slow down Maine’s scorers with a defense that allows an average of 3.3 goals per game on 30.7 shots.
“We need to be managing the game in terms of puck distribution and net-front defense,” said Cahoon. “Our night-front defense was absolutely deplorable [Saturday]. As good as it was [Friday] it was absolutely awful [Saturday].”
With the goaltending carousel being an ongoing story for UMass this season, it appears to be less of a mystery what to expect after last weekend’s events.
After last Saturday’s 5-4 loss to Providence, Cahoon made it particularly clear that freshman netminder Kevin Boyle, who has a team-high six wins on the season, “hasn’t shown that he can play two nights in a row.”
After holding the Terriers to only two goals in a 3-2 win on the road, Boyle gave up four goals and was pulled after two periods in net the next night against the Friars.
With that in mind, as well as sophomore goalie Jeff Teglia being scratched from the lineup because he is “banged up,” fans should expect freshman Steve Mastalerz to get the nod one night with Boyle between the pipes the other.
“Both of those freshman goalies are real good goalies,” said Cahoon. “But they aren’t necessarily so good that they can just run off. I think they’re both going to have great careers.”
No matter who gets the call in net for the Minutemen, they’re expected to have a real challenge this weekend. The puck drops Friday night at 7 p.m in Orono, Maine.
Nick Canelas can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Canelas.
