Unlike the previous night UMass had great effort in the game against Bentley and came out to play from the start. Unfortunately the execution was flat out poor. Hats off to Bentley which had a game plan to attack the Minutemen as much as possible and do their best from keeping UMass from establishing a real flow to the game. If UMass had a game plan it didn’t really show and sadly there seemed to be little to no adjustments as the game went along.
I’m sure a lot of fans left Freitas with their thoughts on the circus-quality, bush league officiating in the 3rd where the Atlantic Hockey referees let it be known exactly who they were pulling for in the tournament. But the fact is the game should’ve been over and done with by that point and nothing the refs could’ve done at that point should’ve swayed the outcome. UMass outshot Bentley 35-10 through two periods yet could only manage one goal, by a freshman playing in his 9th game. Teams simply cannot let so many chances go by the wayside no matter what conference the opponent may play in. If you let any team hang around long enough, they’ll figure out a way to score and ultimately win and Bentley did exactly that.
This team has come out publicly and said multiple times that they’re different than past UMass teams and that a mid-season swoon will not happen. But so far that just appears to be talk as they’ve now lost 4 of the last 6 and was one garbage goal away from going winless in the UConn holiday tournament. If this UMass team wants fans to believe that they truly are different than past teams, it pretty much starts now. Show us. The schedule is about to get a lot harder than a holiday tournament featuring an ECAC team and a couple of Atlantic Hockey squads. Four of the next five are on the road, starting with a tilt on national TV in Agganis Arena, a venue where UMass has not exactly played its best in recent times. Let’s see how the team sets the tone for the second half of the season this Saturday afternoon.
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Union Recaps:
Fear The Triangle Player Of The Game – Paul Dainton
I could easily choose Casey Wellman or one of the other guys who helped sparked the comeback, but if Dainton doesn’t play as well as he did the comeback never happens.
Bentley Recaps:
Fear The Triangle Player Of The Game – Kevin Czepiel
He scored his first collegiate goal and played well throughout both games this weekend. He may have played well enough to get more ice team as the season moves along.
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Matt Vautour at the Gazette takes a look back at the decade in UMass sports.
Fear The Triangle - UMass Hockey Blog 