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After a 12-day lay-off from games, the third-ranked University of Maine men’s ice hockey team will get back to action this weekend when it travels to North Andover, Mass., for a pair of games with the Merrimack College Warriors on Friday and Saturday night.
The Black Bears have been sparked to their amazing 10-2-1 start by plenty of factors. One has been the play of UMaine’s freshman class to start the season. That was recognized on Tuesday when freshman forward Luciano Aquino was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month for November. Aquino had four goals and three assists in the month, including one two-goal game on Nov. 14 against Northeastern.
UMaine coach Tim Whitehead is pleased with the play of the freshman, but he is more pleased with the emergence of some of the upper-classmen.
“We knew we had a good recruiting class coming in,” Whitehead said. “We knew that some of those guys were going to impact us right away. Some have exceeded that, which is great. I think the best thing is that some of the upper-classmen have emerged as legitimate impact players for us. The difference in our good start has been the upper-classmen that have emerged. That’s been the biggest boost.”
UMaine has also seen the other eight Hockey East teams through its first eight league games, in which UMaine is 5-2-1.
Whitehead hasn’t seen too much that has surprised him in the league so far this year.
“I think Boston College is at the top [of the talent pool], which is where we figured they’d be at the point,” Whitehead said. “Then you’ve got UNH, UMass, and ourselves in that mix. And, as expected, [UMass-]Lowell and Providence are fighting for home ice. They are two young, hungry teams. Northeastern and Merrimack are at the bottom, but they are both good teams.”
The one team that has been slightly surprising is the slow start of Boston University, who is 4-4-4 overall (2-3-2 Hockey East). But Whitehead doesn’t think that is indicitive of the team’s potential.
“I would not count them out yet,” he said. “They’ve started slow before and finished strong. They are a sleeper right now, and I’m sure they’re going to come on later in the year.”
UMaine’s earlier contest with the Merrimack Warriors was the Black Bears’ Hockey East opener on Oct. 30 at Alfond Arena, a 6-2 win for UMaine. The score was not indicitive of how close the game was. UMaine scored two power play goals in the last two minutes of the game to break it open. Greg Moore and Todd Jackson both tallied two goals for UMaine, while Merrimack’s Marco Rosa scored both of their goals.
Whitehead says that his team learned a lot from its first game with the Warriors.
“I think the biggest thing they have is the way they work,” Whitehead said of Merrimack. “If you don’t work against them, you’re going to have trouble against them. The talent difference is so slim between everyone in our league between all the teams in the league, so, especially in their rink, we’ll have to work hard against them.”
Merrimack’s Lawler Arena gives them a distinct home-ice advantage. The building only seats 3,000 people and can get raucous, especially when Merrimack is playing top competition. Is has led to a few upsets of top teams in the nation, including UMaine on more than one occasion. Whitehead also says the style of rink in the building suites Merrimack’s play.
“They shave the ice down along the boards, so when the puck is dumped in, it doesn’t leave the boards,” Whitehead said. “They have very quick forwards, so they can jump on you right away in the offensive zone. It gives them a good advantage on the forecheck. Their defensemen like to pinch along the wall a lot, and the puck stays along the wall a lot, so that’s an advantage. Their defense is also big and strong, so it’s tough to get to the net front.”
Whitehead thinks his forwards have an advantage on Merrimack’s defense in that UMaine can outskate them.
“Merrimack’s defense is big and strong, but they may not be the most mobile,” Whitehead said. “We took advantage of that in the game here, but everyone is more comfortable in their own rink, so it will be harder to take advantage of that.”
Merrimack, who is 4-9-3 overall and 1-5-3 in Hockey East, has struggled in recent games. In their last game, Merrimack became the first Hockey East team to lose a game to a team from Atlantic Hockey, formally the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, dropping a 3-2 decision at home to the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Saturday. Merrimack beat Quinnpiac on Friday, 4-1.
Whitehead says don’t be fooled by Saturday’s result.
“Quinnipiac is very strong program,” Whitehead said. “So I’m surprised they haven’t knocked someone off before. They are a contender for the NCAA tournament every year. We’ve also seen Merrimack beat good teams at home, so we’ll be ready for them.”
The Warriors offensive power is coming from Rosa (7-3-10) and sophomore Brent Gough (6-8-14), along with senior Tim Reidy (5-2-7). On defense, the Warriors are led by big sophomore Bryan Schmidt, who is great defensively besides scoring three times and dishing out nine assists for 12 points. Also look to senior Tony Johnson (1-9-10) to provide a spark for Merrimack.
The last few weekends, coach Chris Serino has rotated goaltenders. Junior Casey Guenther, who was the exclusive starter to start the season, and the loser in the earlier game against UMaine, is 3-7-3 with a 2.87 GAA, an .899 save percentage, and one shutout. Freshman Jim Healey is 1-2-0 with a 3.29 GAA, and an .866 save percentage.
UMaine and Merrimack will face off at 7 p.m., both Friday and Saturday night.
Bangor Daily News