{"id":49258,"date":"2013-02-20T05:30:58","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T11:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=49258"},"modified":"2013-02-20T00:36:57","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T06:36:57","slug":"duplicating-success-a-challenge-but-union-starting-to-get-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2013\/02\/20\/duplicating-success-a-challenge-but-union-starting-to-get-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Duplicating success a challenge, but Union ‘starting to get it’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Following a monumental year, this season’s Union Dutchmen are finally “over it.”<\/p>\n
“We have had our peaks and valleys this season,” coach Rick Bennett said. “I think the guys are starting to get it — they’re settling down. It took them a while to get over the expectations and all that. Once we got over that hurdle, it’s really settled down for us.”<\/p>\n
The defending Whitelaw Cup champions as league tournament winners famously rode a wave of talent and cohesion to the Frozen Four in Tampa last season, and league observers couldn’t pick Union high enough in preseason polls last fall.<\/p>\n
The campaign hasn’t played out as anticipated, symbolized by a 4-1 season-opening loss to Merrimack under the fabric of freshly flown banners. The Dutchmen followed that falter with a 6-0-1 run and finished the first half 8-3-4, but it was already clear that this was not going to be a carbon copy of last year’s historic run.<\/p>\n
“I believe I was just as guilty of the expectations. You want to do well, you put more expectations on yourself, but that’s just human nature,” Bennett said. “Our leadership has really grown throughout the season” to keep the team grounded, he said.<\/p>\n
“It was a little bit of an issue, I have to say — maybe even the first half of the season. You know, you go through these peaks and valleys, and it’s a place we had never been before as a program, and you have to get over it.”<\/p>\n
The coach isn’t about to say that Union is as good as it’s ever been, but it may be peaking at the right time.<\/p>\n
“This past weekend was one of our best weekends this season,” Bennett said. “Was it the best? It’s tough to compare. I would say it was the most consistent, what with sticking to the process. They were frustrating games [wins over Yale and Brown] in the fact that there wasn’t much scoring and it’s very easy to wander from your systems, but I think we stuck with it.”<\/p>\n
A key cog in the defense — title and otherwise — is Mat Bodie. The blueliner and captain has notched 19 points in 25 games this season, and 18 goals and 80 points in 104 career games. The opportunistic junior suffered a broken wrist in early November but missed only five games and has come back stronger than ever, per Bennett.<\/p>\n
“Mat Bodie’s been playing probably his best hockey since he’s been here,” Bennett said. “I’m not going to say he’s 100 percent but I don’t think anybody’s been 100 percent since September.”<\/p>\n
Bodie’s productivity is complemented by that of forwards Wayne Simpson and Daniel Carr, who have combined for 24 goals and 51 points in 30 games.<\/p>\n
“Those guys can put the puck in the back of the net with anybody,” Bennett said. “I think a guy that is really underrated, that doesn’t get a lot of press, is [senior forward] Kyle Bodie. He has quietly put together, in his past two seasons, as good a [performance] as a lot of guys who have come through this program. He’s our top center right now, our assistant captain, and he’s done a great job this season producing as well as as a leader.”<\/p>\n
The brothers Bodie have Union in a tie for third place, and Bennett is certain that Union can hang with the best of ECAC Hockey and beyond.<\/p>\n
“We have as good a team as anybody,” he said. “Any given night … even a playoff series, best-of-three, I like our team. That’s why you play. To think there’s a team out there that’s gonna beat you eight-zip without even trying, I just don’t see that out there in college hockey. The parity is incredible.”<\/p>\n
Harvard hasn’t had the best season so far. Entering the Beanpot two weeks back, the Crimson won once in 15 games (1-13-1) and hadn’t posted a league point since mid-November. And yet, here we are, urging you not to sleep on the Cambridge club.<\/p>\n
“Every team is trying to get ready for the playoffs, and for us, those two [non-league] games in the Beanpot are always against excellent competition,” said coach Ted Donato, whose team is 2-0-2 since falling to Boston College in the Beanpot semifinal. “If we can play well and get some victories, that can be used as a springboard from a confidence standpoint.”<\/p>\n
The boss finds the turnaround to be the symbiotic result of a little luck and a lot of hard work.<\/p>\n
“It’s a little bit of both, but I do think we’re playing much better,” Donato said. “I think we are an improved club. There were certainly some games in the losing streak that we deserved better, where we got a couple of bad bounces, but they usually equal out if you put the hard work in.<\/p>\n
“I think our team has matured, I think we have a better understanding of what our strengths are as a team. Guys are making the little sacrifices necessary in order to win, whether it’s understanding when the puck has to go deep or blocking shots, faceoffs. All the little things that we have improved on during the year.”<\/p>\n