AMHERST – A combined 11 games of losing streaks will clash when the UMass hockey team visits New Hampshire on Friday.
The No. 16 Minutemen have dropped five in a row, their longest losing streak since 2018, after Boston University swept them last weekend by a combined score of 12-3. The Wildcats (3-9-1, 0-8-1 Hockey East) have dropped their last six games and occupy the Hockey East cellar.
“Two pretty desperate teams looking to find a way to win a game,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “For us it’s going to be about compete and execution. That’s been our focus. Another chance to win a game.”
The Minutemen (5-5-1, 1-5) haven’t won since beating Merrimack in overtime Oct. 28. They’ve been ravaged with injuries along the blue line in recent weeks. Aaron Bohlinger has missed the last three games. Noah Ellis was out for five of the six periods against the Terriers after leaving Friday’s game with an illness after the first period. UMass will be without Linden Alger for a measurable amount of time after he broke his leg Saturday.
“You go into BU and lose 3 of your top 6 D, it’s going to be hard to find ways to win,” Carvel said. “They scored a lot of goals on us, and that’s a big reason why.”
Another reason is the dip in goaltending performance. UMass looked like it had one of the nation’s best goalie duos through the first six games when they allowed less than a goal per game with two shutouts. Both sophomore Luke Pavicich and Arizona State transfer Cole Brady have struggled over the past month. UMass has let up five goals per game, and both Providence and BU hung seven on the Minutemen once.
“Going into the year with three inexperienced goalies it was going to take some time to figure them all out. I don’t think practice is the best way to evaluate goalies, games was going to be the case,” Carvel said. “Ideally one goalie steps up and carries the weight.”
The Minutemen understand where the breakdowns are happening. They’re not a bad hockey team, just playing badly.
“The biggest thing for us is to not worry about the record for the losses, it’s important to be learning every day. We’re making a lot of mistakes, doing a lot shooting ourselves in our own foot,” UMass captain Eric Faith said. “We’re trying to correct those errors and keep building. It’s a long season. There’s still a lot of ways to go.”
Between injuries and turnover, UMass has regularly relied on more freshmen than its accustomed to over recent seasons. The Minutemen will need everyone to get back to where they believe they can be.
“It’s going to take all 20 guys on the ice every night. We’ve got to make sure all guys are on board,” Faith said. “From my standpoint, I’ve got to make sure I’m there for the young guys if they have questions or if they’re making mistakes, making sure I have their backs.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.