January 2, 2008
Team of the Week: Massachusetts
CHN Staff Report
The general consensus coming into this season was that Massachusetts would take a step back before going forward again.
Coming off the first NCAA tournament appearance — and victory — in the program's history, the Minutemen lost standout goaltender Jon Quick to the pros after just his sophomore season. And many other key players were already graduating.
But in this year's wide-open Hockey East, and with goaltender Paul Dainton performing so admirably, the Minutemen have not lost a beat.
And this week was a good example of why. And in defeating Notre Dame and Colorado College by one goal each, the Minutemen improved to 9-3-5, are up to No. 8 in the Pairwise, and have on the first CHN Team of the Week honor of the new year.
In the wins, in which UMass scored nine goals, eight different players scored. Cory Quirk, who had one goal in each game, leads the team now with six. The player who scored the OT game winner in the championship game Sunday, Matt Burto, is a senior who didn't even play Friday, and had only 15 career goals prior. Freshman James Marcou scored his fourth of the season, and leads the team with 18 points.
It was Marcou that set up Burto for the game winner.
"It's easy when your teammate leaves you with a wide open net," Burto told the St. Petersburg Times.
UMass was down 2-0 early to a CC team that was playing while missing some key players to suspension. But it wound up with 44 shots on goal in rallying for the win.
The comeback, and the weekend, were indicative of a program led by a coach who is known for strong finishes, and a feisty spirit. UMass' Don Cahoon has been making a lot out of a little ever since his playing days at Boston University.
"Coach Cahoon has got a lot of energy," defenseman Justin Braun told CSTV.com. "He brings it to the rink every day and expects us to have the same thing and gets on us if we're not bringing it every day. He has a lot of compassion but he also expects a lot from us. I think the greatest thing that he's taught me is just having the drive out there and telling me to not give up on the play. He tells me to just work hard."
Though the trend for Cahoon teams have been strong finishes, this year has actually been remarkably consistent. There haven't been bad lulls, unless you want to count a one-point, home-and-home weekend with Providence early in the season.
It's all Hockey East games from here on for the Minutemen, and they'll get another test right away when the schedule resumes next week with a home-and-home against New Hampshire.
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