The Minutemen of UMass dropped their fifth consecutive game Saturday night at home against Merrimack, losing the season series in the process. UMass came into the Mullins Center after getting beat 4-1 at Merrimack the night before and came out flying. The dominated the first period, out shooting their opponents 13-5 in the first frame, but despite controlling the play, they headed into the first intermission at a scoreless tie.

In the second Merrimack was able to get some momentum and scored two goals, one coming from the Warriors having a player float around the UMass blueline despite the play being in their own zone. They were doing this all night and this one time, the long pass connected and both back checking Minutemen went to the puck carrier and he dished it off to Ryan Flanigan who was streaking in all alone and beat Dan Meyers on the blocker side. In the third, Merrimack’s Stephane DaCosta picked off a Will Ortiz pass at the UMass blueline and scored with a wrist shot that was labeled top shelf, putting the game out of reach.

The Merrimack Warriors played spoilers, beating UMass 3-0 on senior night. It was the last home game (pending a home playoff series) for goalie Dan Meyers, defenseman Martin Nolet and Justin Braun and forwards Brett Watson and Will Ortiz. Before the game, UMass honored them in front of the crowd and having their parents and other family member come onto the ice for photos. All five players will be missed dearly next year. Meyers was a very solid backup to Paul Dainton in his final two years and gave the players in front of him confidence when he was in net. Will Ortiz is tied for most career game winning goals and always brought intensity to the ice. Coach Cahoon often praised Brett Watson, one of the co-captains this year, for his effort as well as both off and on ice leadership. Martin Nolet was a very good defensemen at both ends of the ice and a crowd favorite, which often chanted “Nolet” instead of “Oley” like they do in Montreal. Justin Braun, the other co-captain, was the best defenseman on the team without doubt this year in every situation. The Minutemen will likely have to win their next three games, one at Boston College and two at Maine, in order to get a home playoff and get any consideration for the NCAA tournament because of this current losing streak.

photo courtesy of Don Treeger

The highly anticipated battle for second place in Hockey East between the UMass Minutemen and the Boston College Eagles was anything but a battle. The Minutemen played poorly and the Eagles took advantage taking a 7-1 win and demoralizing the sold out crown at the Mullins Center Friday night. The Eagles got two goals quickly before Casey Wellman rang a shot off the post, the Eagles counter-attacked scored soon afterwards on a questionable goal in which the scoring player was in the crease long before the puck arrive, but the referees did not decide to call it back after viewing the replay. The only real chance for UMass to try and claw back was at the end of the first period, down 4-0, they had a ninety second 5-on-3 powerplay, but could not manage to get anything past Eagles goalie John Muse. After going down 7-0 in the second, James Marcou scored the only UMass goal late in the third, but clearly it was way too little way to late. The Minutemen are going to have to have very strong finish to the season to make up for the debacle Friday night, including a game at Boston College, if they want to make it to the NCAA tournament.  Next weekend they will have a home and home with Northeastern University.

UMass entered the weekend two-game series with the Vermont Catamounts with a 9-6 record in Hockey East play and were fresh off two big wins against UMass-Lowell.

The first game started off fast, when James Marcou used a defenseman as a screen and snapped a wrist shot past Catamount goalie Rob Madore on the first shift of the game. The pace fast, and the action was back and forth until late in the opening frame when Jay Anctil of Vermont hopped on a bouncing puck in the UMass slot and beat Paul Dainton on the glove side. In the second, Casey Wellman rushed end to end, and like linemate Marcou, used a Catamount defenseman as a screed, wiring a shot though both the defender and goalie’s legs to give the home team Minutemen a 2-1 lead. UMass controlled the majority of play for the rest of the game, and would have gotten a larger lead if not for the play of Vermont goalie Rob Madore who made great scramble saves multiple times. With a minute remaining, Vermont pulled Madore, but had mis-communicated as the puck came to their end as doing so. James Marcou passed on a shot at the empty net and passed to Casey Wellman who buried it for his second of the game as UMass went on to take game one 3-1.

Vermont came out ready for game two. They managed to get the first goal of the game, despite being outplayed by the Minutemen for the most part early on. After the first goal, they went into shutdown mode, and if it weren’t for the eight penalties taken during the game, they would have played a textbook road game. Special teams made the difference as UMass’s powerplay was blanked on all eight opportunities, including a minute-long five on three advantage. The overall team defense, helped by spectacular play in goal by Rob Madore propelled the Catamounts to get the weekend split, beating UMass 3-0. UMass now sits tied for second in Hockey East with Boston College.

The Minutemen came into to the Mullins Center Friday night after losing for the first time this season to the Providence College Friars. The Friars played a solid road game, in which they played well defensively, and got great goaltending.  Despite getting 29 shots in the third period, the Minutemen were not able to mount a comeback and lost 2-1.

Niagara came into the match up at the Mullins center winless in six games. The Minutemen, however, had their share of adversity with significant injuries. Rocco Carzo, T/J. Syner and Eddie Olczyk were all out of the lineup. In the first period Paul Dainton made a few big saves to keep UMass in the game while his teammates were still trying to find their legs. Niagara scored first at the beginning of the second period, but UMass rallied to win the game 4-1. The first goal was Michael Lacomte’s first of the season. Will Ortiz set him up at in the low slot for a easy one-timer into the open side. Only minutes later, Danny Hobbs deflected a waist high shot taken by Martin Nolet from the point to beat the Niagara goalie and take the lead. Niagara tried to climb back, but with the net empty with a minute remaining in the third, Michael Lacomte stole the puck from a defenseman at the point at got a breakaway at the empty cage. David Boehm, a native of Naples, Florida, added his first career goal on another empty net with twenty seconds left to seal the win for the Minutemen.

The Minutemen now head to Niagara for a matinee match up the Purple Eagles on Sunday, where they will lay their unbeaten road record on the line

The UMass Minutemen are off to a 2-0 start this season with wins over both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Boston University at home. The team’s season opener against Rensselaer was a special teams battle more than anything, with the Minutemen capitalizing on four of their ten power plays on the night. Despite being out shot 16-6, and being down 1-0 after the first frame, UMass was able to use special teams to get back into the game and eventually roll to an easy 5-2 victory. Defenseman Matt Irwin led the attack for the minutemen with two goals on the night. The Brentwood Bay, British Columbia native notched one goal on a 5-on-3 powerplay and the other on a 4-on-3 man advantage. Both goals were one-timers from the point that beat the RPI goalie high glove side. James Marcou also had an outstanding night with four assists, which tied a personal career high.

The number two ranked Boston University Terriers rolled into Mullins Center at UMass on Friday October 16 for their season opener. The Minutemen jumped out to a 2-0 lead in front of a near capacity crowd in Amherst with goals from Rocco Carzo and Matt Irwin. The Terriers managed to battle back to tie the game at two by the end of the second period with two goals by Alex Chiasson. The third goal for Umass came after multiple quality scoring chances, which on a pass during a 2 on 1 in which the BU defender included about four shots that hit the post. But the persistence paid off as Will Ortiz got the game winner accidentally deflected the pass into his own net while trying to fend off the intended target Danny Hobbs. Between the pipes the netminders, Paul Dainton and last years Hockey East rookie of the year Kieran Millan, put on a clinic. In the end, it was Dainton who prevailed stopping 39 of the 41 shots he faced on the night and was the best player on the ice for either team. The Minutemen’s next game comes on October 23 as they host Maine.