The biggest hockey weekend of the young season is upon us. The UMass Minutemen (6-2-0, 2-2-0 Hockey East) have a home-and-home series against Boston University, and the outcome will say a lot about both teams. The underperforming Terriers (2-3-4, 1-2-3) went winless (0-2-2) against Maine and Providence the last two weekends, but the team is loaded and could rocket off the launch pad at any time.
On Sunday, UMass suffered a maddening 3-1 loss at UNH, with the Wildcats improving to 3-1 in Hockey East and 5-2-1 overall. The one-two punch was a half-dozen Minutemen penalties and two UNH goals in a 13-second span, all in the first two periods.
UMass has scored only five first-period goals in eight games, a problem that coach Greg Carvel isn’t quite sure how to fix. “It’s frustrating,” he told WHMP’s Donnie Moorhouse. “We weren’t ready to battle, and that leads to penalties. The players and I need to figure out how to get a good 20 minutes.”
UMass buzzed around the Wildcats net in the third period, outshooting UNH 13-3, but by then goalie Mike Robinson was “tuned up and dialed in” in the words of color analyst Brock Hines.
“I hate those situations where you gotta go into desperation mode to get the best out of your team,” said Carvel.
“We still haven’t played to an identity yet,” he said after their 6-3 win at Northeastern on Nov. 1, the first in eight tries at Matthews Arena. “We’re an immature team. We got a lot of guys not comfortable with the puck on their stick.”
The Minutemen were out-shot in the Northeastern game — “out-chanced” as Carvel puts it — and they were once again against UNH. It’s troubling to see that after having the third-most shots in Division I last season, UMass is 25th this season according to College Hockey News.
Here’s three reasons why the UMass offense is running on low octane: play-making defenseman Mark Del Gaizo is injured, veterans Oliver Chau and Niko Hildenbrand are both scoreless and only three of the nine freshmen are contributing — Zac Jones (nine points), Reed Lebster (four goals) and Cal Kiefiuk (three goals). “The rest need to start showing more,” said Carvel.
Cale Makar’s coming to town next month, and if this keeps up Carvel might want to send him out there in Groucho glasses.
SCOUTING BU: Keep an eye on No. 13 for BU. Trevor Zegras is a self-proclaimed one-and doner from Bedford, N.Y., who has four goals and eight assists in nine games. Senior Patrick Harper has scored at least two goals in a game seven times in his career, and in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately category, David Farrance has five goals in his last two games.
The bad news for BU has been its goaltending. Senior Sam Tucker and sophomore Vinnie Purpura both have a save percentage under .900, which is akin to batting under the Mendoza Line.
GRID TEAM GRIDDLED: Here’s one for the books. The UMass basketball team allowed fewer points in its 62-60 win against Fairfield on Saturday than the football team allowed in its 63-7 loss at West Point. The Cadets could’ve taken a knee on their final drive, but Army doesn’t take knees. They drove 70 yards on 13 plays, capped by freshman Jemel Jones’ first collegiate touchdown.
UMass briefly tied the game on a razzle-dazzle 56-yard pass from quarterback Andrew Brito to Kyle Horn. Trick plays are all that coach Walt Bell has left in his hat, like the fake punt from inside his own 10 that would’ve worked if the receiver hadn’t dropped the ball.
UMass has attempted 25 fourth-down conversions — the most in the FBS — and converted 10 times.
The Minutemen defense has allowed at least 60 points in four of its 10 games. Athletic director Ryan Bamford should ask a sorcerer to mix up a potion that’s equal parts Vic Fusia, Dick McPherson, Bob Pickett and Jim Reid to get a coach that knows defense.
This week, UMass plays Northwestern at 50,000-seat Ryan Stadium near the shores of Lake Michigan. The Wildcats are 1-8, their lone win against UNLV, and yet are 38-point favorites to beat UMass.
There’s not a basketball coach in New England who’s feeling the pressure like Matt McCall to get off to a good start. He has new coaches and players and according to computer guru Jeff Sagarin, he might have the goods to finish over .500.
After last season’s 11-21 record, Sagarin rated the Minutemen 209th in Division I. This year he has them 111th, better than all but 10 opponents. The toughest will be No. 3 Virginia, who they play next week at Mohegan Sun.
UMass plays 109th-rated Northeastern Tuesday, and the game will be a measuring stick of what to expect in the coming months. Other Top 100 teams that will be playing at the Mullins Center include South Carolina, Yale, Dayton, Duquesne, and Virginia Commonwealth.
If UMass is becoming a good team, then now’s the time to watch in person because tickets only cost between $10-$15 at the Mullins Center box office.
Three former Minutemen hoopsters are playing for USA Today Top 25 teams. Point guard DeJon Jarreau and center Brison Gresham will start for No. 25 Houston in Tuesday’s season opener against Alabama State. The two friends left Amherst after Derek Kellogg was fired.
In Providence, Luwane Pipkins will come off the bench for the 18th-ranked Friars. Pipkins was an all-about-me player at UMass, and fans in these parts weren’t sorry to see him shoot 1-for-10 from the field in Saturday’s win against NJIT.
Meanwhile former Minuteman Jonathan Laurent was 2-for-8 from two-point range in his first two games at Oklahoma State.