2008 Woodie Awards
Hockey: Searching for answers
Meyers, a bright spot on troubled team
Ryan Fleming, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: Sports
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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).
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