AMHERST, Mass. — Massachusetts coach John Micheletto was in a reflective mood following his team’s 6-4 win over New Hampshire Friday night.
He looked back to a time when running a college hockey program was still new to him, when he was still learning the names, hometowns and abilities of his players.
It was two years ago – Micheletto’s first season as UMass coach. It was the first practice after a 5-4 loss to Boston College in which the Minutemen blew a 3-0 third-period lead.
Micheletto recalled a quiet locker room – no music, no players talking, just silence. He was troubled by the scene, and addressed it immediately.
“You’ve got to work the same after a win as you do after a loss,” he remembered telling his team. “That’s the only way to build a championship program.”
Never has Micheletto’s message been more important than this year, as UMass has spent the entire season at the bottom of the Hockey East standings and has suffered losses by counts of 11-1, 8-1 and 8-3, all while dressing as many as nine freshmen a night.
With their win over the Wildcats, the Minutemen are a respectable 3-3 since returning from the holiday break.
According to Shane Walsh, who was the hero Friday with two third-period goals, there is a belief that UMass is starting to turn a corner thanks largely to its consistently positive attitude each week.
“We’ve been struggling here [and] it’s no secret that the first half wasn’t the way we wanted it to be,” Walsh said. “When you start to have wins pile together, it just makes the whole mood in the room positive and it gives a little reassurance that what we’re doing is working.”
Friday was the Minutemen’s first Hockey East win at the Mullins Center since Jan. 24, 2014. Walsh scored the game-winner 14:29 into a five-goal third period, while Patrick Lee and Brandon Montour added three assists and two assists, respectively.
UNH outshot UMass 33-20, but was burned by bad defensive-zone coverage on the rush and according to coach Dick Umile, failed to convert on a number of chances in the first two periods.
“I thought early in the game, we had our chances to get some goals and we didn’t do it; that didn’t happen,” Umile said. “Every time they came down on the rush, they went right by us and scored. We didn’t do much to defend.”
The Minutemen took a 3-2 advantage into the final frame that was erased 7:54 in on a power-play goal by Tyler Kelleher.
Casey Thrush’s shot from point ricocheted hard off boards and right onto stick of Kelleher, who buried the puck into the open net as UMass goaltender Henry Dill (29 saves) was late getting back to cover.
The Minutemen regained the lead just 20 seconds later on Walsh’s first goal of the night off a feed from Lee. The Wildcats, however, responded on a power-play goal by Thrush at 10:32 to tie the game at 4-4.
Walsh had yet another answer four minutes later. This time he was part of a two-on-one with Frank Vatrano, who faked a shot to draw in the UNH defense, then fired the puck toward Walsh in the slot, and Walsh redirected it past Adam Clark (14 saves) for the go-ahead goal.
Walsh, who tallied just four goals in his first two seasons combined, has four goals in the last three games, including the game-winner against Maine last Friday.
Troy Power sealed the game at 15:26 when he tipped Montour’s shot from the point into the back of the net to make it 6-4.
Walsh said UMass’ current upswing has been a result of its maturation throughout the season.
“We come to the rink every day, whether it’s a loss or a win, and we try to keep the same even keel and go out there and keep playing,” Walsh said. “I think we’ve handled losses really well [and] that’s a sign of maturity for our team.”
After a back-and-forth first period that ended in a 1-1 tie, the Minutemen took their first lead of the game, 2-1, 1:35 into the second period on a goal by Marc Hetnik. Lee led the odd-man rush into the UNH zone and found Hetnik coming down the left wing for the blocker-side goal.
John Furgele finished a nice sequence by the Wildcats’ forwards at 8:06 to tie the game at 2-2. Kelleher led the attack with a pass back to Thrush, who was racing down the right side and into the offensive zone. Thrush followed with a dish to Furgele in the low slot and the freshman defenseman tapped the one-timer past Dill.
UMass entered the third period with a 3-2 lead on a goal by Jake Horton thanks to a set-up by Dominic Trento, who fought his way along the boards and down the left wing, hitting Horton in stride in the slot.
