By Benjamin Solomon and Alex Kerravala, Staff Writers
Following their brutal defeat against Curry College, UMass Dartmouth played 2 games, one against Fitchburg State and another against assumption. UMass D made several fatal mistakes against Curry, and thankfully were able to fix a few of their mistakes, but it wasn’t enough, as UMass could not leave their first three games with a win.
With their opening game, UMass D played far too sloppy, giving assumption too many power plays and could not find the net more than once, even with more shots on goal. The Corsairs played too aggressive, and couldn’t even make that work, losing to Curry 5-1. Against Fitchburg, the aggression was able to sustain and managed to work in their favor.
On October 31, the Corsairs managed to tie in overtime with the Fitchburg Bears. The score was 4-4, however during the game the teams were less evenly matched than that score and duration would suggest.
UMass Dartmouth managed to start off with two goals in the first period, first by Steven Leonard then Mike Sones five minutes apart. They even managed to score a third goal toward the end of the second period thanks to Kai Kapossy, the entire time preventing Fitchburg from scoring a single goal.
Fitchburg was kept at only 5 shots on goal during the first period, compared to UMass Dartmouth’s 18. The second period evened out with 12 shots for the Bears and 15 for the Corsairs.
It all went downhill in the third quarter. Just three minutes in the Bears managed to score. Ten minutes later, Kenny Tencsza scored the Corsairs’ fourth and final goal.
Unfortunately, the three-goal lead was not to last. Fitchburg State scored two goals only one minute apart, with the tying goal coming in the 19th minute of the third period.
Despite Fitchburg’s impressive recovery, they managed to do this with 12 shots on goal compared to the Corsairs’ 13. The Bears scored a third of the shots they took in this quarter.
The proceeded to overtime where neither team scored again. Fitchburg State had 4 shots on goal while UMass Dartmouth had 8. The game ended in a draw.
The Corsairs able to keep more shots away from the goal, and was able to let their aggressive playstyle pay off this time, but managed to crumble in the third. 4 goals in a single game is above average, let alone a single period.
The Corsairs dominating the scoring opportunities during this game with a total of 54 shots on goal versus the Bears’ 33. The Bears’ goalie seemed be the star of their performance, letting in only 1 in every 13 shots compared to UMass Dartmouth’s 1 in 8 allowed.
This match was a notable improvement over the opening game where the Corsairs lost 5-1 to Curry College. UMass Dartmouth had more scoring opportunities (54 shots this time vs 37 before) and better defense (allowing 1 in 7 shots from Curry versus 1 in 8). Importantly, they tied rather than lost.
Unfortunately the game of Thursday November 2 could not offer different results for UMass Dartmouth Hockey, as they lost to Assumption College with a final score of 4-3.
The game opened with two goals from Assumption within the first period, the first with more than 7 minutes left in the period, the second with 3 left.
The second period proved to be more successful for the Corsairs, as UMass D was able to get on the board with a powerplay goal from junior Mike Stones, from Waterdown Ontario, providing him with his third goal of the year. This highlight was short lived, however, as Assumption was able to score yet again, leaving the score at 3-1 by the start of the third period.
The ‘Sairs fought a hard fight in the third, with senior Casey Shea from Woburn, Mass., scoring just seconds into a power play, with an assist from classmate Brandon Berkley from Scottsdale, Arizona.
After Assumption regained their lead of two, Shea was able to put another in the net, for his second in the game.
Despite Pulling the goalie in the last two minutes of play, UMass Dartmouth was unable to find the net even one more time, losing the game with a final score of 4-3.
As usual, the Corsairs held the shot advantage with 40 shots on net versus Assumption’s 36. UMass D was also able to act on their power plays they were given, something they struggled with their opening games, as well as less penalties.
The Corsairs has played very aggressive the opening three games, always holding a shot advantage, and despite the lack of a win in three games for UMass D was able to show improvement; they were able to fit the aggressive playstyle better, managing to find the net more than initially, and is able to keep away from the dirty plays.
These two show some very impressive improvement, and with more work, the ‘Sairs can turn that aggressive behavior into a winning strategy.