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University of Massachusets Athletics
Inside the Glass With Troy Power
February 11, 2015 | Hockey
This past weekend we took a big step forward in the right direction. With two home games against Hockey East opponents, it was important for us to continue coming together and continue playing with passion as the race to gain valuable points in the regular season is coming to a close.
On Friday night, we squared off against arguably the hottest team in Hockey East at the moment. Earlier this season we beat Northeastern and earned our first conference win at their home rink. Before winter break they came into the Mullins Center and returned the favor. In the rubber match Friday night, they unfortunately came out on top. Despite having a 2-0 lead, the Huskies were able to fight back and tie the game up at two. Just before the end of the second, Ray Pigozzi stripped a Northeastern defender behind the net and fed Freshman Patrick Lee in the slot to take us into the third with an important 3-2 advantage. Unfortunately after that goal, it was all Northeastern. They came out in the final period and found a way to scrap for a 5-3 win with important points on the line. Despite the loss, there were many components of the game that we could be proud of. Steve Mastalerz continued to give us great minutes in net and Riley McDougall continued his hot hand scoring his fourth goal in his last five games. Ultimately, it was important for us to move past Friday's loss and onto a huge game Saturday night against UMass Lowell.
In my opinion on Saturday night, we played our most complete game of the season and beat UMass-Lowell 5-2. Unfortunately due to an injury sustained on Friday, I was unable to play and was forced to watch the game from the stands. To be 100% honest, it is really hard for me to watch games from up top. The year that I redshirted I watched a total of 23. Out of all the games I haven't been able to suit up for, none was more gratifying to watch than Saturday night. I never looked at the stat sheet after the game, but the way it looked from a bird's eye view, we excelled in all aspects of the contest. We blocked more shots, we out hustled them, we won 50/50 puck battles, we were sound in our defensive zone, our forwards grinded down their defense with our offensive low-play and our goaltender Steve Mastalerz was great. Basically we came together and played a full 60 minutes against a very good hockey team and I couldn't have been happier to come into the locker room and see the excitement on everyone's faces. We earned the right to that feeling on Saturday night.
Moving forward we have to continue to excel in the month of February. With only five games remaining, it is important to continue to move forward and finish off the regular season the best team we can be. Our weekend ahead features a rematch against Lowell in a non-conference game on Friday night at the Mullins Center before heading back to Lowell on Saturday to play for Hockey East points at the Tsongas Center. There is no doubt in my mind they will be looking to avenge their loss so we will have to come ready to compete again this weekend. Looking forward to seeing you all at the Mullins Center on Friday night for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop. Thanks for the support and as always, Go UMass!
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