BOSTON, Mass.—For the fourth-straight season, #9 UMass Boston men's hockey will host an ECAC East Quarterfinal game in front of the Beacons' faithful at the Beacons Ice Arena. The top-seeded Beacons will host eighth-seeded University of Southern Maine on Saturday February 20 at 7 p.m.
GAME INFORMATION
ALL-TIME SERIES: While Southern Maine leads the all-time series 16-14-1. UMass Boston has had the Huskies number over the past five years. The Beacons have won six in a row, including a season-sweep this year, and eight of the past nine meetings between the two schools. Saturday's matchup marks just the second time the two teams will meet in the playoffs, after the sixth-seeded Huskies upset third-seeded UMass Boston 4-1 in the 2011 ECAC East Quarterfinals.
SEASON SERIES: In the two prior meetings this season, the Huskies played the Beacons close both times, but UMass Boston ultimately earned a 3-2 win in Maine in November and a 5-2 victory in Boston on January 29.
In the first meeting, Southern Maine took a 1-0 lead at 3:20 on an Alex Pantalone goal, only to have the Beacons' respond with two goals in a 4:46 span. Freshman forward Drew Gannon (Plano, Texas) tied the game eight seconds after the Huskies tally and senior Derek Colucci (North Scituate, R.I.) gave the Beacons the lead at 8:14. Southern Maine tied the game at 18:18 of the second on a Patrick Magliano goal, but senior Matt Lemire (Townsend, Mass.) scored the game-winner 3:50 into the third. In the win, senior goalie Zach Andrews (Coral Springs, Fla.) made 18 saves on 20 shots, while Southern Maine sophomore Kyle Shapiro stopped 21 of 24 shots.
The second game was just as close through two periods, before UMass Boston blew the game open with three of their four power-play goals coming in the third period. The Huskies took a 1-0 lead after the first, only to have Tyler Bishop (Ramsey, N.J.) and Bryan Carter (Hudson, Mass.) scored back-to-back goals 1:46 apart to give the Beacons a 2-1 lead. With the score tied at two after two, Mike Miller (Wrentham, Mass.), Lemire and Bishop all scored on the power-play in a 7:48 span, to give the Beacons a 5-2 win. Shapiro made 53 saves on 58 shots in the loss, while Andrews moved to 6-0-0 with 23 saves on 25 stops.
Lemire has been a thorn in the Huskies side during the two games, as he has two goals and three assists.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: After suffering through a winless December and January, the Huskies come into Saturday's contest red hot with three wins in their past four games. Southern Maine snapped an overall 12-game losing streak (0-11-1) and a 12-game NEHC losing streak on February 5, with a 2-1 win over New England College. They also tacked on a 4-1 win over New England College the next day and a 3-2 overtime win over Skidmore College in Saturday's regular-season finale. Their lone loss in February was a bad one though, as Castleton University handed them an 8-1 loss, with five of the goals coming in the second period.
Southern Maine ranks near the bottom of the NEHC in nearly every category, including scoring offense (2.16 goals per), scoring defense (3.48 goals allowed per), power-play rate (13.9 percent), penalty-kill rate (75.0 percent) and special teams net (-14). One of the team's biggest problems has been staying out of the box, as they rank second in the conference with their 11.2 penalty minutes per game. In their second matchup with the Beacons, Southern Maine was whistled for seven penalties and the Beacons converted on four of their power-plays.
Offensively, senior Zach Dymock has paced the offense with his team-leading eight goals, eight assists and 16 points. He's been especially effective lately, as Dymock has recorded two goals and 4 assists in the team's four games in February. Sophomore Alex Pantalone leads the team with his two game-winning goals and ranks second overall with seven goals, while senior captain PM Lapointe has tallied a team-high three power-play goals. In net, sophomore Kyle Shapiro has started in 21 of 25 games and carries a 3.17 goals against average and .895 save percentage. The ECAC East All-Rookie Team honoree last year, posted a career-high 53 saves against the Beacons in January.
SCOUTING THE BEACONS: After falling in the ECAC East Semifinals in each of the past three years, UMass Boston is looking to win the first-ever NEHC Tournament to earn the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Beacons have been buoyed by incredible balance this season, as they rank fifth in the nation in scoring offense (4.32) and eighth in power-play rate (24.7 percent), but also sit 20th in scoring defense (2.24) and sixth in penalty-kill rate (89.3 percent). The Beacons will look to take advantage on special teams, as they finished 4-for-8 (50 percent) on the power-play against Southern Maine, while the Huskies finished 1-for-4 (25 percent).
The Beacons have been led by their three First Team All-Conference honorees, as Lemire and Colin Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) rank first and second in the NEHC in assists and points, and Bishop leads all Division III defenseman with his 10 goals. Senior Frankie DeAugustine (Pittsburgh, Pa.) is tied for the league-lead with his seven power-play tallies, while Miller is tied for second in the conference with four game-winning goals. UMass Boston has relied on a total team effort this season, as 18 different players have scored goals and 20 players have registered points. In net, seniors Billy Faust (Alta Loma, Calif.) and Andrews have combined for a .920 save percentage and 2.21 goals against average.
STAT TO KNOW: UMass Boston is 11-0 this season when scoring two or more goals in the first period. In those 11 wins, the Beacons have outscored their opponents by an average of 3.8 goals per game. On the season, the Beacons are averaging 1.48 goals in the first period.
