The No. 18 UMass hockey team will head to Vermont for a two-game set against the Catamounts this weekend, where it’ll look to improve upon its 4-3-1 record.

UMass secured a 4-3 win over American International College on the road last weekend, highlighted by a two-goal game from sophomore forward Jack Musa. Vermont’s (1-4-2) lone win also came last Saturday in a 1-0 overtime victory against UConn.

The Minutemen have been away from Mullins Center for six of their eight games to start the season, however head coach Greg Carvel feels this upcoming trip to the Green Mountain State will offer something different to his group.

“I think it's good timing,” Carvel said. “I think it'll be good for us to get away together, two games on the road. It's a good setup in Burlington, nice hotel, good food and then it'll be good competition.

“UVM is a really cold rink so I don't like super cold rinks,” Carvel said. “But it is a nice setup as far as you stay downtown and it's easy to get to the rink. Again you get away with the team, it's not just one night, you hunker down.”

Despite having secured just one win, the Catamounts currently sit in fourth place in the Hockey East standings with five points. Vermont have pushed its last four games to overtime, two each against UConn and Providence. UMass is tied for seventh place in Hockey East with two points in two games played.

“Watching UVM on video, they're continuously getting better and better every year,” Carvel said. “They played Providence real tough a couple weekends ago, I think they split with UConn last weekend, so it'll be two, I'm sure, very close games, like most Hockey East games.”

Forwards Massimo Lombardi and Colin Kessler are the Catamounts’ top point producers to date, each with seven points, while goaltender Axel Mangbo has manned the Vermont net in its last two games after Keenan Rancier started the first five games. Mangbo (2.84 goals-against average, .897 save percentage) and Rancier (3.11 GAA, .906 SV%) have combined for one win.

UMass has had a bit more offensive firepower to start the season as four players have produced at a point-a-game clip or better. Cole O’Hara leads the Minutemen in points with 12, Aydar Suniev has the most goals with six, and Dans Locmelis and Kenny Connors each have eight assists, which is tied for most among the team, in eight games.

Heading into the weekend series against the Catamounts though, Carvel is keeping a closer eye on his defense corps.

“We're trying to learn that our defensemen need to make smarter puck decisions,” Carvel said. “The turnovers that we allow either lead to goals or lead to momentum against us and don't allow us to play with the puck. That's our focus right now, just getting our backend… beginning of the year our backend we were giving up a lot of breakaways and odd-man rushes. I think we've taken care of that, now we just got to be better with our puck decisions.”

Among the six-man unit that has seen a bulk of the action to this point, Carvel mentioned three freshmen blueliners who he’s felt have already taken steps in their development.

“I think [Francesco] Dell’Elce’s game has grown the most,” Carvel said. “He's earned a lot of trust from us. Obviously, offensively he's doing a lot, but he's playing a very sound defensive game. At the beginning of the year, there was a little bit of too much riverboat gambler to his game. We've asked him to reign that in and he has. I thought he was a very good player on Saturday.

“Larry [Keenan] is one of the guys with puck decisions,” Carvel said. “I think at this level he has to understand that less is more. He tries to do a little too much with the puck. I think Finn [Loftus] is a really smart player with the puck, it's just the pace and the strength of the game which is where he is growing. He's a really smart player.”

Dell’Elce has the most points among UMass defenders with three goals and two assists.

Michael Hrabal has been in between the pipes for the Minutemen all season long and has posted a 2.73 GAA and a .906 SV%.

As Hockey East play begins to ramp up for UMass, Carvel feels the competition throughout the league will be stronger than some think.

“I think the parity this year is going to be even more so than last year,” Carvel said. “Last year, BC and BU really separated themselves, maybe Maine too. I don't know if there will be extreme separation at the top or bottom. I think it's going to be a real cluster, to the point where, the four teams that make it to Boston [for the Hockey East semifinals], you could have three teams that upset on the road or quarterfinals situation.

“I just hope that we're a good team at this point,” Carvel said. “We have to go up to Vermont and prove some things to ourselves this weekend.”

Puck drop for Friday night’s battle at Gutterson Fieldhouse is set for 7 p.m., while Saturday’s second game is also a 7 p.m. start.