The Massachusetts men’s club hockey team fell to New Hampshire 3-1 on Sunday for its third loss of the weekend. UMass (6-7) couldn’t keep up with the Wildcats (8-5), who utilized their speed and skill to carry the play for much of the game.
New Hampshire’s third goal of the day was emblematic of its ability to push the pace of play. Halfway through the second period, Ethan Burgess carried the puck into the Minutemen’s zone with speed, looping around the wing.
Two UMass defensemen collapsed on the forward and left the front of the net uncovered. Burgess dropped the puck off for Robbie Hanna streaking behind him, and with plenty of time and space, Hanna outwaited goalie Kevin Wright before sliding the puck under an outstretched pad.
“We need to pick up a guy when they get the puck in transition,” head coach Sean Prendergast said. “Find your guy, find your responsibility and do your job. We’re just getting beat by not doing our job all over the ice.”
The Wildcats caught the Minutemen flat-footed for their first goal just one minute into the game. After it regained possession in the neutral zone, New Hampshire had numbers crossing the blue line. Wright made a kick save on a long shot from the point, but the rebound landed on Liam Martin’s stick who tucked it in the open goal.
“When you come back on the back-check and you’re not picking up sticks, teams are capitalizing on that,” Prendergast said. “It’s something we’re going to work on at practice and need to fix going forward.”
UMass seemed to settle in after the early goal, funneling pucks toward the net and generating chances, but a boarding penalty with 10:18 left in the first period halted its momentum. Just 12 seconds into the powerplay, Burgess was left alone on the right dot and ripped a wrist shot over the glove of Wright as the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the first period.
That penalty was one of six for the Minutemen on Sunday. On Saturday, UMass was penalized four times. On Friday, they were penalized 13 times, including a full line brawl that saw five Minutemen get 10-minute major penalties.
“[We have to] clean it up, we all know the rules,” Prendergast said. “We need to abide by them. The refs have been doing their job, they’ve been calling it tight. There’s been a lot of penalties this whole weekend. We need to find our game and play cleaner hockey because it’s really hurting us.”
UMass took advantage of a power play to cut the lead to two with nine seconds left in the game. After cycling the puck around the offensive zone, Ethan Porter collected the puck by the left dot. The forward waited for a shooting lane to open, then whipped a shot through net-front traffic and over Cam Holbrook’s shoulder for the goal.
“[It was] another ugly [game],” Prendergast said. “We’re still working on finding our game. It’s a work in progress, definitely a lot to work on.”
After entering the weekend on a two-game winning streak, the Minutemen finished their homestand on a three-game losing skid. They will look to get back in the win column on Nov. 16 against Boston College. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Daly Ice Rink.
James Rust can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @James__Rust.