In its overtime-won contest against Northeastern on Nov. 3, the No. 14 Massachusetts hockey team struggled to play a full 60 minutes. As the weekend home series against Vermont lays on the horizon, UMass (5-2-1, 1-1-1 Hockey East) looks to improve its play as a whole and hit the ice with strength.
The Catamounts (2-3-1, 1-2-1 HEA) split their most recent series against UConn, losing 5-2 in the Saturday night contest after coming out strong with a 4-1 win the previous night. The Minutemen, on the other hand, have been struggling with inconsistency going from game to game. In a tough league, looking to sweep a Hockey East opponent, UMass must battle from the first faceoff to the last second in the third period.
“I felt like [our] game was off,” head coach Greg Carvel said of the Northeastern matchup. “[The] compete was a little bit off … Hopefully we’ll come out a lot more jammed than we did [that] Friday night.”
Despite moving up Steve Wiedler as the interim head coach of the Catamounts, Carvel is expecting consistent gameplay in the series with Vermont paying special attention to detail on the ice. Wiedler was the team’s assistant coach for three years before stepping into the interim role. After two competitive, head-to-head matches in the 2022-23 season that ended in shootout wins for the Minutemen, this detail-specific play style of the unranked Catamounts will keep tensions high on the ice.
“That’s more than half the battle,” Carvel said. “You compete, and you take care of the details [and] good things will happen to you. [Vermont has] been building up [its] talent level.”
Junior forward Simon Jellus is one of these top competitors for Vermont. The Catamount has logged four points on four goals. In the series against UConn, Jellus put up one goal in each game of the series. His other two goals came out of Vermont’s battle against St. Lawrence. Will Zapernick and Zach Dubinksy follow the junior in points, putting up their early season four points mainly through assists.
As for the Minutemen, Jack Musa continues to lead scoring. The freshman logged 11 points in eight games from three goals and eight assists. Defenseman Scott Morrow trails just behind Musa with 10 points on two goals and eight assists.
While the start of the season seemed to be in the hands of UMass’ freshmen, veterans on the team, such as Lucas Mercuri and Ryan Lautenbach, have been integral pieces of the game. With scoring coming from all over the lineup, the aggression of the veterans amps up the momentum for the Minutemen.
Still, penalties continue to plague UMass. The Minutemen suffered 39 penalties so far this season, allowing eight goals off power plays. Against the Huskies, Lautenbach suffered a five-minute major penalty. The junior forward is expected to return to the ice on Friday, according to Carvel.
Puck drop against the Catamounts is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10. The matchup will be streamed on NESN. Saturday’s contest is slated for 6 p.m. for the second night in the Mullins Center.
“We’re [going to] need to be a little more urgent, a little more desperate this weekend,” Carvel said.
Sydney Ciano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @SydneyCiano
