To say that the season to date for New Hampshire has been a difficult one is an understatement.
The Wildcats began the year with two wins at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, a notably tough series over the year. But from that point, UNH had but a single win – a late-October win over Army West point – until an exciting overtime victory over Arizona State in the final game before break.
“It got to a point that no matter what you say in the group, the individual man was probably saying, ‘Are we ever going to win a game?’” said UNH coach Michael Souza. “You say the right things: ‘Trust the process. It’s going to break. It’s going to go our way.’
“In the Arizona State game, we’re up, we’re tied. We’re up again, we’re tied. When things aren’t going well, you find a way to lose games. When things are going well, you create a way to win them. So it was like a sense of relief to go into the break.”
That didn’t translate into automatic wins like a switch flipped. The Wildcats lost twice against Union to start the second half of the year. But after those two one-goal losses, the Wildcats won three straight and the mentality in the locker room has changed.
“I felt this way at times in the first half, but not consecutive days,” said Souza. “It’s a maturity that players have to go through individually and teams have to go through.
“We weren’t there early in the year; we weren’t detailed to where we need to be. And I’m not saying that we’re a finished product. But we’ve taken steps in how competitive we are collectively.”
Maybe not the only ingredient in UNH’s recent success, but certainly a very key one, has been the play of goaltender David Fessenden. Though he currently holds a decent .914 save percentage and a 2.52 goals-against average, over the last two weekends that save percentage is .977 and his goals against a stingy 0.67.
The switchover for a goaltender is difficult for any coach to understand and define. Souza, though, is okay pointing to the offseason and the work that his fourth-year goaltender has put in.
“No two goalies are alike, I swear,” joked Souza. “David’s a little bit older, he’s the oldest player on our team. He is meticulous in his preparation. At times he gets frustrated, maybe last year, not getting the net more and maybe this year at time. He’s played pretty well all year, aside from a couple of games.
“But he completely transformed his body this year with our strength coach Will Morey. He made a significant body transformation from where he was last year and I think that’s why he’s quicker, he’s more agile. He has the ability to make saves that he wouldn’t have had in the past. Today’s technology makes it more amazing. He’s lost weight but gained lean muscle mass and bone density. All stuff that has helped him become a better goalie.”
The road ahead for New Hampshire isn’t an easy one. They’ve dug themselves a hole, of which Souza is aware. In tenth place and surrendering games in had to almost every team in front, something like hosting a playoff game might seem like a pipe dream.
But Souza also understands that the way the Hockey East tournament sets up – a single-elimination tournament where all teams qualify – all you need is two wins to go from the bottom of the standings to earning a spot in the TD Garden.
“We weren’t excepting to be where we are in the league, but we are where we are and we’ll be where we’ll be,” said Souza. “[Adversity] makes you a little bit harder as an athlete and we’re better for it. The key now is to sustain it. You’ve gotten people’s attention with a couple of wins. They’re going to have their radar up.”
