University of Massachusets Athletics
The Mass Attack Game Notes for Boston University
December 05, 2001 | Hockey
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GAME #15
Boston University (8-3-1 / 3-2-1 HE)
at
Massachusetts (6-8-0 / 2-5-0 HE)
Friday, December 7, 2001 * 7:00 p.m.
William D. Mullins Center (8,389)
Amherst, Massachusetts
FRIDAY'S GAME AGAINST BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Massachusetts enters the game at 6-8-0 overall and 2-5-0 in Hockey East, while Boston University enters the game at 8-3-1 overall and 3-2-1 in Hockey East. Massachusetts is coming off a weekend in which it lost a pair of Hockey East games, while Boston University is coming off a 3-2 loss to UMass Lowell on Saturday night. The Minutemen have lost four consecutive Hockey East games and enter the weekend in eighth place in the league standings. The Terriers have lost two in a row and are in fifth place in the Hockey East standings. They enter the weekend ranked No. 7 nationally in both polls. Boston University has won the last eight meetings with the Minutemen, including all three last season. The last time Massachusetts defeated Boston University was on Jan. 23, 1999, at the Mullins Center by a 5-4 score. It is the fifth home game of the season for the Minutemen, and the sixth road game for the Terriers. UMass is 2-2-0 at the Mullins Center.
SCOUTING THE BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS
Boston University opened its season with four consecutive victories over Rensselaer (6-5), Vermont (6-3), Merrimack (4-0) and Northeastern (4-3), before tying New Hampshire (1-1). The Terriers then responded with victories over Maine (3-2) and Yale (4-3) before falling to Boston College (3-1). Following the loss to the Eagles, the Terriers defeated Harvard (8-4) and then split a weekend series with Cornell (W, 5-3, L, 4-2). Last weekend the Terriers lost their only game, 3-2, at UMass Lowell. Boston University has a balanced scoring attack with four players in double-digits in points. Sophomore Frantisek Skladany (6g, 7a), sophomore Gregg Johnson (3g, 9a), senior Mike Pandolfo (7g, 4a) and sophomore Kenny Magowan (2g, 9a) lead the offense. The defense is anchored by sophomore goaltender Sean Fields who has a 6-3-1 record while posting a 2.68 goals against average and an .899 save percentage. Senior Jason Tapp is the backup goaltender. The Terriers have a deep and experienced group of defensemen led by seniors Pat Aufiero and Chris Dyment and juniors Freddy Meyer, John Cronnin and Mike Bussoli along with a number of talented newcomers.
LOOKING BACK TO THE BOSTON COLLEGE GAME
Sophomore Tony Voce scored two goals, while classmate Ben Eaves collected three assists in Boston College's 4-0 victory over Massachusetts in front of 6,376 at Kelley Rink on Saturday. The Eagles scored three times in the first period and junior netminder Tim Kelleher extended his scoreless streak to 124:06 with the shutout. Boston College took an early lead, 11:40 into the game, on Voce's first goal of the night. Freshman Dave Spina and Eaves set up the power-play score. Spina extended the lead to 2-0 at 16:42 on an even-strength goal right out of a face-off. Freshman Ryan Shannon won the draw back to Spina for the goal. Voce struck again just 30 seconds later when he pocketed an Eaves cross-ice pass directly in front of the net. Junior A.J. Walker also assisted on the goal. After a scoreless second period, Walker came through with a goal at 13:06 of the third period, taking an Eaves pass in front of the net. Voce also assisted on the goal. Massachusetts threw 20 shots on net, but Kelleher stopped them all for his second shutout in a row. He also blanked Harvard on Friday, Nov. 23 in a 23-save effort. UMass senior Mike Johnson (Excelsior, Minn.), who last season made 60 saves against the Eagles in a 3-3 tie, made 28 saves in the losing effort.
LOOKING BACK TO THE MAINE GAME
Maine scored three second period goals en route to a 6-1 victory over Massachusetts in Hockey East action at the William D. Mullins Center. Maine jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Colin Shields scored during a five-on-three advantage less than a minute into the second period. Massachusetts cut the lead to 2-1 when junior Tim Turner (Saginaw, Mich.) scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Freshman Greg Mauldin (Holliston, Mass.) and senior Toni S?derholm (Helsinki, Finland) assisted on the five-on-three power-play goal. The Black Bears responded quickly when Niko Dimitrakos scored a shorthanded goal to give Maine a 3-1 lead. The Black Bears would extend their lead to 4-1 when Lucas Lawson scored with less than a minute to play in the second period. Tom Reimann scored for Maine during a four-on-four situation 2:57 into the third period to give the Black Bears a four-goal lead. Reimann scored again later in the period to make the final score 6-1 in favor of Maine.
JOHNNY ON THE SPOT
Senior Mike Johnson has been enjoying his role as the No. 1 goaltender on the UMass roster. He spent his first three seasons playing behind Markus Helanen, who is now playing for Jokerit in the Finnish Elite League. Johnson has recorded a pair of shutouts this season and now have five for his career, which ties him with Helanen for the school record. Through 15 games, Johnson has a 5-6-0 record while posting a 2.63 goals against average and a .898 save percentage. Following his consecutive shutouts over Vermont (Nov. 20) and Dartmouth (Nov. 24 ), Johnson was named Hockey East and U.S. College Hockey Online Defensive Player of the Week and UMass/WHMP Athlete of the Week. In his final three appearances during last season, he stopped 102 of 109 (.936) shots. Included in the three-game stretch was a 60-save performance in a 3-3 tie with eventual national champion Boston College.
FRESHMAN CLASS PICKING UP THE SCORING PACE
The 11-man freshman class has played an important role in the Minutemen's start to the season. They have combined for 11 goals and 11 assists through 14 games. Greg Mauldin leads the class with seven points, including a two-goal, one-assist performance against Connecticut on Nov. 11. Craig MacDonald (Canton, Mass.) has five points on four goals and an assist, including a two-goal game against Dartmouth. Peter Trovato (North Attleboro, Mass.) follows with four points on two goals and two assists. Tim Vitek (Dresden, Ontario) has a goal and an assist, while Justin Rafferty (Clifton Park, N.Y.) picked up his first two assists at Dartmouth. Matt Walsh (Arlington, Mass.) scored his first career goal in the series at Colorado College but missed the next seven games suffering from bronchitis. Defenseman Sean Regan (South Boston, Mass.) recorded his first collegiate point with an assist on the first goal of the game against Connecticut on Nov. 11.
MacDONALD / MAULDIN / TURNER
The line of Craig MacDonald, Greg Mauldin and Tim Turner has been together for seven games this season, including the last three. Turner leads the Minutemen in goals (six) and points (11), while MacDonald is tied for second in goals (four) and Mauldin is fourth in points (seven).
FINNISH(ING) FROM THE BLUE LINE
Senior Toni S?derholm and junior Samuli Jalkanen (Helsinki, Finland) have been netting some points from the blue line. S?derholm has seven assists on the season with six of them coming on the power play. Jalkanen has two goals and four assists and scored the game-winner late in the third period on the power play against Connecticut at the Springfield Civic Center on Nov. 11. Jalkanen also scored on the power-play in the 4-0 victory over Dartmouth on Nov. 24.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE MAN-ADVANTAGE
Massachusetts has converted on 12 of its 63 (19.0%) power-play opportunities this season. The Minutemen scored a season-high three power-play goals in the 6-5 victory over Connecticut at the Springfield Civic Center on Nov. 11, and then matched the feat with three against Dartmouth in the 4-0 victory on Nov. 24. Last season, UMass scored on 19 of 149 (12.8%) power-play opportunities. Tim Turner leads the team with four power-play goals. Samuli Jalkanen, Craig MacDonald and Thomas P?ck are next with two, while Greg Mauldin and Martin Miljko (Etobicoke, Ontario) each have one power-play goal.
STAYING ON THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THINGS
Entering tonight's game two UMass players have positive plus/ minus ratings for the season. Freshman Greg Mauldin leads the team with a +6 rating and junior forward Brad Nizwantowski (Peabody, Mass.) has a +2 rating. There are six players on the team with even plus/minus ratings and 17 players with negative plus/minus ratings.
BIT OF A BOSTON UNIVERSITY BACKGROUND
Massachusetts head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon will be facing a familiar opponent this weekend. Cahoon earned three letters for the Terriers and played on two national championship teams (1970-71, 1971-72) before graduating in the spring of 1972. He earned another national championship as an assistant coach at Boston University in 1977-78. Cahoon spent seven years as an assistant with the Terriers under current head coach Jack Parker. Cahoon is 3-7-0 (.300) in meetings against his alma mater and mentor. He is 0-3-0 against the Terriers since coming to UMass, and was 3-4-0 against them as head coach at Princeton.
BEANTOWN BLUES
Massachusetts has historically struggled against the teams from the captial city of the Commonwealth. Since joining Hockey East for the start of the 1994-95 season, the Minutemen have compiled a 10-56-6 (.181) record against the four Division I hockey playing schools from Boston. UMass' all-time record against those four schools is 16-79-7 (.191). The breakdown is as follows:
* Boston College 4-22-1 (.167)
* Boston University 2-28-0 (.067)
* Harvard 1-5-0 (.166)
* Northeastern 9-24-7 (.313)
Overall UMass holds a 52-100-8 (.350) record all-time against all schools from Boston (regardless of division or current program status). The other Beantown schools are:
* Boston State 12-8-0 (.600)
* M.I.T. 20-9-1 (.683)
* Tufts 4-4-0 (.500)
MORE EYES ON THE MASS ATTACK
The attendance at the Mullins Center has increased for each of the four previous home games. UMass is averaging 3,362 fans per game so far this season. Here are the four games:
* Oct. 13 Niagara 2,784
* Nov. 3 Northeastern 3,341
* Nov. 17 UMass Lowell 3,449
* Nov. 30 Maine 3,847
JUST A FEW EXTRA THOUGHTS
Friday's game against Boston University is the fifth home game of the season for Massachusetts... The Minutemen are 2-2-0 at the Mullins Center this season... UMass is scheduled to play 18 road games and three neutral site games... Sunday's game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net New England. Game time is 3:00 p.m... Half of the UMass players are natives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Of the 26 players on the roster, 13 are from the Commonwealth, including nine of the 11 freshmen...The Minutemen have 18 days between Sunday afternoon's game at Boston University and the Dec. 28 game against Niagara in the RPI Holiday Tournament... Tickets for all UMass hockey home games can be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations and the UMass Athletic Ticket Office which is now located in the Mullins Center Box Office.
