University of Massachusets Athletics
Mass Attack Hosts Merrimack At Mullins Center On Saturday Night
November 01, 2007 | Hockey
Nov. 1, 2007
#20 UMass (2-2-2, 0-1-2 HEA) vs Merrimack (3-2-0, 0-2-0 HEA)
Saturday, November 3, 2007 • 7 P.M. (ET)
Mullins Center (8,373) • Amherst, Mass.
Radio: 100.9 FM WRNX/UMassAthletics.com
Streaming Video: UMassAthletics.com
Mass Attack Hosts Merrimack At Mullins Center On Saturday Night
• The Minutemen play just one game this weekend as Merrimack visits the Mullins Center this Saturday night in Hockey East Action. UMass is coming off a 3-3 overtime tie with Providence last Saturday, while the Warriors are coming off a 4-2 loss to Boston College. The Minutemen are currently tied for fourth in the Hockey East Standings, while Merrimack is still searching for its first league points of the year. The Warriors won two of the three meetings last season with UMass winning the home contest on Jan. 6, 2007.
• Fans can listen live to the game through the UMass flagship station, 100.9 FM WRNX. Donnie Moorhouse will call the action, while Brock Hines provides color commentary. The game will feature a half-hour pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m. Fans can also listen around the world through UMassAthletics.com.
• Saturday's game will be videocast live by UMass Athletics (www.umassathletics.com). Fans can sign up through the UMass All-Access for monthly, yearly and the XXL subscription for the service.
• All-time UMass is 29-27-5 against Merrimack. Over the last 13 games, UMass holds a 10-3 record.
UMass In The National Polls
• In this week's edition of the national collegiate hockey polls, UMass fell from the top 15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey polls, but were ranked No. 20 in the USCHO.com/CSTV.com poll.
• In the preseason poll, UMass received votes in each. Last season, the Minutemen were ranked nationally in 12 of the 20 weeks during the season.
Best Fans Ever!
• UMass set a new season-opening game attendance record last Friday vs. UMass Lowell as 5,862 fans turned out to show their support of the Minutemen. The previous record for a season-opener was 5,379 against Connecticut on Oct. 9, 2003.
• Last season, the Minutemen averaged over 5,100 fans per game and set four of the top-six Mullins Center attendance marks with a high of 8,221 fans turning out for the March 3 regular-season finale against Maine.
Four-or-More Please
• UMass scored a season-high four goals against Connecticut on Oct. 20 making the Minutemen an impressive 35-0-1 in the last 36 games where they have scored four-or-more goals in a game. The last time UMass lost when scoring four goals was 5-4 to New Hampshire on March 14, 2003 in the Hockey East Semifinals.
Tough To Beat At Home
• Over the last 31 games at the Mullins Center, UMass is 19-7-5 including a 14-3-3 mark in 2006-07. This season, UMass is 1-0-2 at home.
• All-time, UMass is 106-104-24 in the Mullins Center including a 58-90-18 record among Hockey East foes. Under Don Cahoon, UMass sports a 62-50-12 record at home.
New Banners In The Rafters
• Prior to the Connecticut game, the Minutemen raised two banners displaying their successful 2006-2007 season. One banner displays the Hockey East Championship Tournament which UMass has participated in three times. The second banner represents UMass' first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament last season.
Spreading The Wealth
• Of the 22 skaters who have had line shifts, 17 have scored at least a point this season. Freshman James Marcou leads the team with four points.
• Brian Keane, Matt Burto and Will Ortiz are the only players to tally multiple goals this season.
• In the first four games this season, UMass had scored 10 goals by 10 different skaters. Three freshmen are included in that group.
• Justin Braun is the only defenseman to score a goal this season.
Fenton Lends A Helping Hand
• P.J. Fenton handed out two assists in the UConn (10/2) game and has three for the season to lead the team alongside freshman James Marcou.
• Fenton now has 42 career assists which ranks 20th all-time at UMass. He also has 70 career points which is tied for 22nd all-time.
• Along with taking his regular shift, Fenton also skates on both the power play and penalty kill units.
Marvelous Marcou
• James Marcou leads the team with four points on one goal and three assists after four games. He has one assist in each of the last three games and had a goal and an assist in his first Hockey East game which was against UMass Lowell (10/19).
Burto Scores In Last Three
• Matt Burto has three points in the last three consecutive games. He scored goals against Connecticut (10/20) and at Providence (10/26). Against Providence (10/27) at the Mullins Center, he also added an assist.
Defenseman Kostka Generates Offense
• Captain Mike Kostka tallied two assists against Providence (10/27) for the sixth multi-assist game of his career. He set up UMass' first two goals. His career-high for assists in a game is four which he set against UConn on Nov. 18, 2006.
• Kostka is a well-rounded defenseman having played on both the penalty kill and power play teams.
Line Change
• Through the first six games, UMass coach Don Cahoon has mixed and matched several of his starting lines. One mainstay on offense has been the line of P.J. Fenton, Cory Quirk, and Will Ortiz. That trio has skated together in four of the six games. Defensively, the lines of Mike Kostka/Martin Nolet and David Leaderer/Justin Braun have paired together for every game.
• James Marcou and Alex Berry have skated together in every game with Brett Watson, Jordan Virtue and Mike Lecomte spending time at center.
Fourth Line Production
• The fourth line was one of the most active against UConn (10/20) as each skater tallied points in the game. Shawn Saunders played in his first collegiate game and nailed the game-winning goal in the third period. Brian Keane, who scored the game-winner in his first collegiate game at St. Lawrence, added an assist, while Scott Crowder had his first career multi-point game with a goal and an assist.
• The fourth line also accounted for two of the three goals against Providence in the Mullins Center on Oct. 27. Keane and Will Ortiz each scored goals in the 3-3 overtime tie.
The Last Line Of `D'
• Paul Dainton has started five games this season posting a 2.52 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. He has 137 saves to his credit and a 1-2-2 overall record.
• Dainton earned his first collegiate win with a 20-save effort against UConn (10/20). This was coming off an overtime tie against UMass Lowell where he made 29 saves. For his efforts, he earned Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors.
• At Providence (10/26), he stopped a season-high 32 saves - his second 30-save game of the year.
UMass Leadership
• Senior Mike Kostka will serve as captain this season and is assisted by senior P.J. Fenton, senior David Leaderer, and junior Cory Quirk. Kostka and Fenton were both assistant captains in 2006-07.
Who To Watch vs. Merrimack
• P.J. Fenton leads all UMass skaters with 10 points (1g, 9a) against Merrimack in nine career games. Chris Davis has five points on three goals and two assists, while Matt Burto (1g, 3a) and Mike Kostka (4a) each have four points against the Warriors.
Century Club
• P.J. Fenton, Mike Kostka and David Leaderer are the three current Minutemen who have played in over 100 career games. Fenton has now played in 118 games, Kostka has played in 113, while Leaderer leads the team with 119 games.
Scouting UMass
• Forwards Cory Quirk and P.J. Fenton are the top returning offensive leaders. Freshman left winger James Marcou leads the team in scoring with four points.
• Fenton has has three assists this season, while Quirk has a goal and two assists.
• Will Ortiz, Chris Davis, and Alex Berry add scoring ability to the group.
• The defense is led by Kostka and Leaderer. Justin Braun is coming off a strong freshman season after earning Hockey East All-Rookie honors for his play. Martin Nolet, Topher Bevis, Patrick Dineen, and John Wessbecker add experience.
• In goal, Dan Meyers and Paul Dainton are both strong leaders between the pipes and will share playing time. Freshman Matt Gedman will also fight to see action. Gedman, however, is also a member of the baseball team and missed most of preseason while practicing with baseball during the fall.
Last Time Out: PC 3, UMass 3 (OT)
• UMass and Providence battled to a 3-3 tie on Saturday night at the Mullins Center with both teams tallying goals in the final 1:06 of play. Freshman Michael Lecomte put UMass ahead by one at the 1:06 mark, but with six seconds remaining, junior Matt Taormina tied the game for Providence.
• Providence lifted junior goalie Chris Mannix for the final minute in favor of an extra attacker, and the strategy paid off as Taormina batted the puck out of mid-air from right in front of the net, past UMass freshman goalie Paul Dainton. Sophomore John Cavanagh and Jon Rheault were credited with the assists.
• Senior Matt Burto stole the puck from a Providence defender right after a face-off in the Providence zone, and fed the puck to Lecomte for UMass' third goal of the game. The goal came on the power play and was Lecomte's first career collegiate goal.
• The Minutemen were on the short-end of ar controversial no-goal call for the second consecutive night. P.J. Fenton had a breakaway and shot the puck between Mannix's legs, and eventually squirted through with eight minutes remaining in the third period. The goal was waved off though as Fenton crashed into Mannix, dislodging the net.
• Both teams exchanged goals earlier in the period. Sophomore Will Ortiz deflected a blue-line shot from senior Mike Kostka to put UMass ahead 2-1 at the 5:53 mark. Providence responded less than two minutes later though with a goal from junior Kyle Laughlin, assisted by Rheault and senior Trevor Ludwig.
• Providence scored the first goal of the game at the 14:28 mark in the second period on the power play from junior Pierce Norton, with assists from freshman Eric Baier and Rheault. UMass evened the game at one though with just 1:10 remaining in the period when Brian Keane tipped a shot from Mike Kostka past Mannix.
• The first period was scoreless despite UMass holding an 11-6 advantage in shots. UMass' best chance to score came at the end of the period on a power play, on which Mannix made four saves.
• UMass finished with a 40-28 advantage in shots. Dainton made 25 saves, while Mannix made 37.
Up Next: at Boston Univ./UMass Lowell
• UMass heads to Boston University and UMass Lowell next weekend in a Hockey East double-dip. The Minutemen face the Terriers on Friday night (7:30 p.m.) and the play the River Hawks on Saturday at 7 p.m.
• UMass is 5-42-3 all-time vs. Boston University. Last season, UMass posted two ties and one loss with the Terriers.
• Saturday will be a rematch with UMass Lowell from this season's previous 2-2 overtime tie at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen are 21-26-5 all-time against UML.
