University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutemen Begin Second Season Thursday Night
March 10, 2004 | Hockey
March 10, 2004
Massachusetts Game Notes in PDF Format
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UMass Lowell Game Notes in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
Minutemen to begin second season with quarterfinal series against sister school...
? The University of Massachusetts hockey team begins its "second season" with a Hockey East quarterfinal series against its sister school, UMass Lowell. The two teams had an interesting regular season, with UMass sweeping the series, due to the use of an ineligible UML player. Now, UML comes back to the Mullins Center, where it won the only game here this winter, 1-0, on January 4. Now the stakes are bigger as an appearance in the FleetCenter and a berth in the Hockey East Semifinals are on the line this weekend.
About UMass Lowell...
? The River Hawks have had an up-and-down season, but have surpassed all expectations, earning the league's sixth seed after being picked seventh in the preseason poll. UMass Lowell would have possibly finished fourth and hosted a quarterfinal series had it not had to forfeit three league wins. Nonetheless, Lowell figures to be a very tough out for the Minutemen. Sophomore Elias Godoy has had a breakout season for Head Coach Blaise McDonald, scoring 41 points (18 g, 23 a). In fact, the top eight scorers on the River Hawks' squad are freshmen and sophomores and only one senior, Jerramie Domish, has seen the scorebook this season. In goal, Chris Davidson and Paul Yaros have split time in the last semester, and both have put up outstanding numbers. Davidson has seen the majority of the time, posting a 9-9-5 mark with a 2.73 GAA and a save percentage of .902. Yaros, a transfer from Army, is 4-5-2 with a 2.81 GAA and a .909 save percentage. The River Hawks struggled at first since news of the forfeitures, posting a 0-4-3 mark in the seven games following, but have since righted the ship with a 2-1-1 mark entering the Hockey East Playoffs.
UMass slapshots...
? UMass is guaranteed a winning record for the second straight year for only the 12th time in 71 years of hockey... With a win in the series, the Minutemen can defeat a team four times in a season for the first time ever... UMass has an all-time record of 433-614-61... UMass' six ties this season ties a school record set in the 1995-96 season... UMass' average of 1.96 goals per game in Hockey East is the second-lowest in league history, only passing the Minutemen's average of 1.88 gpg in the 2001-02 season... Thomas P?ck led the league's defensemen in overall scoring for the second straight season... For every season in Hockey East, the Minutemen have gone on at least a five-game winless streak. UMass is currently on a seven-game winless streak... Since joining Hockey East in 1994-95, the Minutemen are 48-115-17 in games played after Christmas... UMass' 12 league wins are a school record.
A look back, part two...
? When the River Hawks and Minutemen square off in this weekend's Hockey East Quarterfinals, a trip to the FleetCenter for the Hockey East semifinals are on the line. It was a weird season series between the two teams. The Minutemen claimed the first game of the series, 3-2, in the season opener for UMass Lowell. In early January, the River Hawks swept the Minutemen twice, 3-0 and 1-0, when Chris Davidson stopped all 52 UMass shots over the weekend to apparently take back the Alumni Cup. However, the wins were overturned for use of an ineligible player and the Minutemen were awarded victories and swept the season series.
Where is the offense...
? The Minutemen have struggled all season long scoring goals and it has finally caught up with the Minutemen during the recent 0-6-1 trend. Over the last seven games, UMass has scored 10 goals (1.28 gpg), and have gone only 3-of-23 on the power play (13.0 percent). However, two of the power-play tallies came in the last outing against Northeastern. During that span, UMass has scored on only 10 of its 200 shots, and goalies are posting a GAA of 1.40 and a save percentage of .950. Over last weekend, Northeastern's Keni Gibson stopped 75-of-77 shots to lead the Huskies to a two-game sweep.
Where is the offense, part two...
? Over the course of the year, UMass has struggled to put the biscuit in the net. The Minutemen have scored four or more goals in a game only eight times this season, after accomplishing the feat 19 times last season. It hasn't scored three goals in a game since a 4-1 victory over New Hampshire on Feb. 6, 2004, a span of seven games. Meanwhile, UMass has scored only 47 goals in 24 league games. UMass has scored at least four goals in only four league games, and in 17 of the 24 contests, UMass has scored two or fewer goals.
The difference...
? One can see it is pretty simple to determine the differences between winning and losing for the Minutemen.
* Goals per game: 3.4 in wins vs. 1.2 in losses.
* Goals allowed per game: 1.5 in wins vs. 4.3 in losses.
* Shots per game: 25.9 in wins vs. 24.7 in losses.
* Shots allowed per game: 20.4 in wins vs. 25.5 in losses.
* Power-play pct.: 23.4 in wins vs. 9.8 in losses.
* Opp. power-play pct.: 11.3 in wins vs. 24.6 in losses.
Saluting the seniors...
? Despite falling on Senior Night to Northeastern, 3-2, the three Minutemen seniors will close out their careers as one of the most successful classes in school history. The threesome has accounted for 51 points (22 g, 29 a) this season, and tallied 157 career points (68 g, 89) while playing in 370 career games. Over the past two seasons, the trio has led UMass to a 35-28-7 mark, and advanced to two straight Hockey East Tournaments for only the third time ever.
Good start, bad finish...
? While the Minutemen got off to their best start in school history at 9-2-1, UMass has since gone 7-9-5, and if you throw out the UMass Lowell forfeits, the Minutemen are 5-11-5. In the last 21 games, UMass has scored only an average of 1.9 gpg, while allowing 3.0 gpg. UMass is also allowing foes to convert on 21.9 percent of its power-play attempts in that span.
Powerful stat...
? UMass has very good success when scoring a power-play tally. The Minutemen are 11-4-5 when scoring a power-play netter and are 8-3-2 when an opponent goes scoreless on the power play. However, when reversed, UMass is only 5-7-1 when not scoring a extra-man tally, and are 8-8-4 when foes score a power-play goal. In games that UMass has scored two power-play goals, the Minutemen are 4-1-0, with the lone loss coming in the last outing to Northeastern.
Home sweet home...
? The Mullins Center has slowly become one of the toughest places to play in Hockey East and the fans have noticed. The largest on-campus facility in the league has turned in 10 of the top 16 attendance figures in school history over the last two seasons, and it posted the largest on-campus crowd to see a Hockey East game ever when 8,373 fans attended the UMass-Boston College game on Feb. 13. The Minutemen have already set attendance records, as 73,702 fans (surpassing the previous record of 65,626 set in 1994-95) have come through the turnstiles for an average of 4,606 (crushing the previous average attendance record of 3,499 set in 1995-96). The total is even better in Hockey East, where the Minutemen have averaged 4,977 fans per game.
Tight games not a problem...
? The Minutemen have excelled in close games this season, posting a 12-3 mark in one or two-goal games, including a 10-2 mark in Hockey East games. However, in games decided by three or more goals, the Minutemen are only 4-8, including 2-7 in the league.
Offensive defenseman...
? UMass has been riding the shoulders of its defensemen all season long, particularly Thomas P?ck and Marvin Degon. The duo has scored 53 points (19 g, 34 a) from the blue-line position and rank first and fourth on the squad in scoring. P?ck leads the Minutemen, and the country's defensemen, with 34 points (14 g, 20 a) and Degon has added a career-best 19 points, surpassing the 16 he scored as a freshman.
Young guns...
? The Minutemen boast one of the nation's youngest lineups, with only three seniors on the squad. The three seniors have accounted for 28.2 percent (22-of-78) of the goals, 21.8 percent (29-of-133) of the assists and 24.2 percent (51-of-211) of all the scoring.
Balancing act...
? Aside from Hobey Baker candidate Thomas P?ck, who leads the Minutemen with 34 points (14 g, 20 a), UMass has gotten balanced scoring up and down the lineup. Twelve other players have tallied at least three goals, and five more Minutemen are already in double figures scoring. Fifteen players have tallied at least five points, and only two players, Greg Mauldin and Stephen Werner have also scored more than five goals. In all, nine players have scored four or more goals.
First goal is the important one...
? The Minutemen have given up the first goal of the game 14 times, posting a 3-9-2 mark in those games, including the forfeits. The lone win came against UMass Lowell on Oct. 11, 2003, a 3-2 Minuteman triumph. However, when UMass has scored the first goal of the game, the Minutemen are 13-2-4. The Minutemen have only trailed in two games (Boston College, 2/14/04; and Boston University; 2/20/04) when scoring the game's first goal.
Shorthanded success...
? UMass has produced its most shorthanded goals (7) since the 1993-94 season, when that team scored 12. Six different players have scored shorthanded, led by Peter Trovato's two tallies. In games that UMass has scored a shorthanded goal, it is 4-1-2 with the lone loss coming to Boston College on Feb. 13. It is the only time a Coach Cahoon-led squad has lost when scoring a shorty.
Holding the lead...
? The Minutemen have had great success when leading after 20 and 40 minutes respectively. UMass is 13-0-3 when leading after 40 minutes and 9-0-3 this season when leading after one period of play. UMass is 23-0-3 in the last two years when leading after two periods of play and haven't lost since a 3-2 overtime setback to Boston College on Feb. 1, 2002, a span of 77 games. UMass is 19-0-4 when leading after 20 minutes over the last two years and haven't lost such a game since Dec. 9, 2001, a span of 88 games.
Mauldin picks up offense...
? Despite a struggling UMass offense, one player has picked up his game over the last part of the season. Greg Mauldin has accounted seven points (5 g, 2 a) over the recent seven-game slide, and has scored points on 70.0 percent of UMass' 10 goals over the last month. Over the span, he has scored two goals in a game twice, and has three multi-point games overall over the last seven games. He has gone over 24 points for the third straight year and has contributed points on almost a third of UMass goals on the entire season.
The Awesome Austrian...
? Thomas P?ck has put together impressive offensive numbers all season and put himself in a position to contend for the Hobey Baker Award. The senior defenseman leads the country's blue-liners in goals and points and ranks fifth with 20 assists. A powerful force on the power play, P?ck ranks tied for sixth in power-play goals. He now has 20 assists for the second straight season.
Top line...
? Injuries have decimated the Minutemen this season, and it has shown in the offensive and defensive pairings. Head Coach Don "Toot" Cahoon has used 72 different offensive pairings, and 25 different defensive pairings. In fact, only six different offensive lines have skated together more than four games. Defensively, only six pairs have skated together more than five games.
Hockey East Tournament facts...
? UMass enjoyed its most success last season, winning a quarterfinal series for the first time ever, before succumbing to the eventual national runner-up, New Hampshire, in the semifinals, 5-4.
? UMass is in the Hockey East Tournament for the seventh time every and second straight year. The Minutemen have posted a 3-10-0 record all-time in the Hockey East Tournament.
1994-95: Play-in game: #9 UMass 5, at #8 Boston College 4
Quarterfinals: at #1 Maine 7, #9 UMass 4
1995-96: Quarterfinals: at #1 Boston U. 5, #8 UMass 2
Quarterfinals: at #1 Boston U. 14, #8 UMass 1
1996-97: Quarterfinals: at #1 New Hampshire 5, #8 UMass 1
Quarterfinals: at #1 New Hampshire 8, #8 UMass 2
1998-99: Quarterfinals: at #2 Maine 3, #7 UMass 1
Quarterfinals: at #2 Maine 5, #7 UMass 2
1999-2000: Quarterfinals: at #1 Boston U. 4, #8 UMass 2
Quarterfinals: at #1 Boston U. 5, #8 UMass 2
2002-03: Quarterfinals: #6 UMass 5, at #3 Maine 3
Quarterfinals: #6 UMass 4, at #3 Maine 2
Semifinals: #1 New Hampshire 5, #6 UMass 4
? This will be the first meeting in the Hockey East Playoffs between UMass Lowell and Massachusetts.
? In the 19-year history of the Hockey East Tournament, the sixth seed has defeated the third seed six times, including last year's UMass upset of third-seeded Maine.
? The third seed has advanced to the title game eight times in 19 years, winning the tournament three times. The wins came in the 1985 (Providence), 1991 (Boston University) and 1999 (Boston College) tournaments.
The UMass Lowell series...
? UMass has won five of the last six meetings, taking all three games this season and two of three in 2002-03. The lone UML win was on Feb. 8, 2003, a 3-2 victory at the Mullins Center.
? UMass has scored three or more goals in 17 of the 30 games against UML since joining Hockey East. When scoring three or more, UMass is 8-6-3, but are 5-0-2 since Feb. 20, 1999.
