University of Massachusets Athletics
Rivalry Renewed: UMass Travels To Vermont For A Pair
February 15, 2007 | Hockey
Feb. 15, 2007
AMHERST, Mass. - The Mass Attack's rivalry with its neighbors to the north continues this weekend when UMass travels to Burlington, Vt. to take on the Catamounts. The Minutemen look to reverse a three-game winless skid while extending its two-game unbeaten streak on the road at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Fans that can't make it to the games can listen live via umassathletics.com, while the home games will always be streamed live and free of charge directly through umassathletics.com. The Minutemen are currently in sixth place in the league standings, and are ranked No. 19 in the USCHO.com/CSTV poll.
LAST TIME OUT The Minutemen (13-10-5, 10-8-3 HEA) relied on late period heroics by Mark Matheson to earn a 3-3 tie with Providence. Matheson scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season with just 40 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Matt Anderson and Will Ortiz also scored for the Minutemen, while Kevin Jarman netted helpers on all three goals for UMass. Jon Quick made 37 saves in the contest.
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS Ranked No. 16 by the USCHO.com/CSTV poll, the Catamounts are coming off of a pair of losses at Maine, and have lost three in a row by virtue of the Feb. 3 loss to Providence at home by the score of 4-1. Torrey Mitchell leads the UVM offense with 29 points, including a team-high 18 assists. Nine Catamounts are in the double figures for scoring. Joe Fallon has been stellar in net on the season, holding a .921 save percentage and 1.82 goals against average with his 14-9-3 record. The Minutemen and Catamounts are separated by just one point in the league standings.
FOR STARTERS Massachusetts is 11-26-4 all-time against Vermont, dating back to February 5, 1927, a 2-1 win for UMass (then the Massachusetts Agricultural College) on the road. In the Modern Era of UMass Hockey (1993-present), the Catamounts hold a 5-8-2 edge; under Head Coach Don Cahoon the Minutemen are 5-4-1; with UVM in the league, the teams are even at two games apiece. The last UMass win came on February 17, 2006: a 3-0 shutout at the Mullins Center. In this season's previous meeting, UVM handed UMass its first home loss with a 3-0 shutout on November 21, 2006.
LOOKING AHEAD After this weekend, three of the last four regular season games will be played at the Mullins Center, a place that has been kind to the Minutemen this season: they are 9-3-3 at home. The last regular season road trip will take place on Sunday, February 25 when UMass travels to Matthews Arena on the campus of Northeastern University. That game will be televised at 3 p.m. on ESPNU. The Minutemen close out the season by hosting a pair against Maine on March 2 and 3. As UMass is in sixth place in the league standings--two points out of third--and the top-four teams get home ice, it is too early to predict where the Minutemen will be the weekend of March 8 for the Hockey East Quarterfinals.
