 "Photo: Brian Tedder / Collegian")
At this point of the season the exact state of the Massachusetts hockey team is still not perfectly clear. They continue to out play and defeat high-ranked opponents like then No. 4 Boston College, then No. 1 Boston University and then No. 4 North Dakota, yet somehow manage to lose to far inferior foes like UMass-Lowell, Merrimack and, most recently, St. Lawrence.
At moments they boast one of the nation's best offenses and spectacular goaltending; other times, stopping attacking forwards and applying all-important pressure seems nearly impossible.
Every game is vitally important and losing to teams like St. Lawrence is just unacceptable.
A scoring dilemma
During the first few games of the season the Minutemen (6-6-1, 3-3-1 Hockey East) found ways to score and create scoring opportunities. In their first six games, UMass scored goals of three, six, nine and five. In their six losses, the Minutemen have only scored seven goals, being shutout twice.
UMass used to sport one of the nation's top lines in Alex Berry, Cory Quirk and James Marcou. The trio showed their flexibility in playing styles along with a certain chemistry that makes lines so successful.
In the last five games, the Minutemen are 1-4 including two back-to-back shutout losses to UMass-Lowell and then No. 4 Boston College. After separating the team's top line, the Minutemen have found themselves on the scoreboard but still haven't exactly located what was evident earlier in the season.
Bad timing
When you think of the third period you think of the last chance for the opposing team to take the lead, or the final period to stage a comeback. But when you're on a penalty kill you can't harness the same quality scoring chances as when you're playing 5-on-5 hockey.
In the game against St. Lawrence, the Minutemen were penalized three times, giving the Saints six minutes of basically free play and another opportunity to extend their lead. The same happened to UMass in their shutout loss to Boston College on Nov. 21. The Minutemen handed the Eagles 12 minutes of man advantage play in the game's final period, being hit for four penalties (one was a double-minor).
With the penalties coming at the worst of times, the Minutemen are forced to sit back, defend their net, and try to deter any offensive scoring chance that is conjured up, instead of being the team that applies the pressure.
By committing these foolish penalties, the Minutemen greatly reduce their chances of earning a tying score.
Mainly Meyers?
Coming into the season Dan Meyers was the starting net minder for the Minutemen, only to be pulled from UMass' 9-4 win against Providence on Halloween night. Before that game Meyers posted a 2-1-1 record.
For the next few games Paul Dainton took over as the main backstop earning a 4-3 record. Dainton's last start against St. Lawrence definitely wasn't his finest: letting in four goals on 21 shots.
"[Practice] wasn't fun [Monday]. We got some skating in, which is good," Dainton said. "We can't just let a loss like [Saint Lawrence] go and start working on the power play or something again."
Meyers, though, has run into a bit of tough luck as of late. The junior goaltender took the 3-2 overtime loss against then No. 13 Vermont on Nov. 25 and a 2-0 loss against then No. 4 Boston College on Nov. 21. Meyers stopped 36 and 28 shots respectively. Despite getting the loss for both games, Meyers has played sharp, giving his team a chance to win and giving coach Don Cahoon an interesting dilemma at goaltender position.
Ryan Fleming can be reached at rfleming@dailycollegian.com.
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