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UMass Lowell 2024-2025 Season: Expectations are.....Expectations

Good win for MBB today, finally. They're currently 6th in AE (out of 9) and have four games left, all against teams in front of them, as they play teams ranked 1, 2, 3 and 5 in league play (2 at home, 2 on the road). Lowell is 5-7 in league play, one game behind the teams currently tied for 4th (and the last home court spot for the quarterfinals). So they'll need to win and also hope for help.
 
UMLFan said:
Good win for MBB today, finally. They're currently 6th in AE (out of 9) and have four games left, all against teams in front of them, as they play teams ranked 1, 2, 3 and 5 in league play (2 at home, 2 on the road). Lowell is 5-7 in league play, one game behind the teams currently tied for 4th (and the last home court spot for the quarterfinals). So they'll need to win and also hope for help.
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conference regular season ultimately doesn't matter except for home court and at this point... lol.

I would only care if they can right the ship and then hope to go on a run.

Ironically I want the same thing for hockey. get into a good place then see what we can do in march.
 
MLax is 3-1 after having zero wins last year and picking up a 13-12 win against wagner. Their strength of schedule is awful so they may only pick up a couple more the rest of the way (they'd be favored against their next opponent) but progress is progress.

Wlax was 4-0 but dropped a game against yale.

I've been putting my effort into mlax this year because we got a guy at my hangout who was a player at UAlbany in the early 1990s and I said screw it. I still haven't watched any college lax this year but I've been score tracking.
 
Today's lineup.

GkbMYyIWIAAq1L_
 
Sigh... goal number I'd like the definition of goalie interference. If its judged the play was beyond him and he couldn't stop it, fine, but he took a real hit.

We need a win badly.
 
Another bad loss. Just disappointing. Last night's results actually improved our PWR to #11. Will see what this loss does (and how other results go tonight).
 
Feels like a recurring theme this season has been getting out-played in the third period of close games. Especially against the better Hockey East teams. That whole period you could just tell Providence was going to tie it. Thought they'd be able to take it to OT but oh well. At this point the tournament is a pipe dream. I think the team is tired, even the older guys. The league has always been a grind but especially so over the last few years. I'm a little nervous with all of the top six D set to leave except Schweighardt but if no forwards hit the portal we'll return most of that group. Hoping the freshmen don't suffer the sophomore slumps next year.
 
This team came back from Palm Springs #8 in the pairwise. All they needed to do was play .500 hockey and they’d cruise to an at large bid and decent standing in Hockey East. Instead, they’re 3-8-1 since Palm Springs with a horrendous loss to Stonehill and a bad loss to Vermont. They’ve blown 3rd period leads against UConn and Providence and they’ve been shut out twice. Historically, Bazin teams get better as the year goes on and they start playing cohesive hockey right about now. This team is as cohesive as a soup sandwich right now yet with four games left I’m STILL foolishly harboring the belief they will catch lightning in a bottle and return to first half form.
 
FiveLetterBird said:
Historically, Bazin teams get better as the year goes on and they start playing cohesive hockey right about now.
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People have said this for a while, and the stats don't back it up. Lowell has had a better record after break compared to before break in just 4 of Norm's 13 seasons behind the bench.

Breaking it down by month, February is the worst month overall under Norm, followed by March.

MonthWLT
Sep/Oct453090.589
Nov5827100.663
Dec302050.591
Jan563560.608
Feb4840130.540
Mar/Apr402930.576
Overall277181460.595
 
ScottK said:
People have said this for a while, and the stats don't back it up. Lowell has had a better record after break compared to before break in just 4 of Norm's 13 seasons behind the bench.

Breaking it down by month, February is the worst month overall under Norm, followed by March.

MonthWLT
Sep/Oct453090.589
Nov5827100.663
Dec302050.591
Jan563560.608
Feb4840130.540
Mar/Apr402930.576
Overall277181460.595
Click to expand...

That’s interesting and surprising. Clearly I wasn’t aware of the numbers behind it. Perhaps my recollection of these 2nd halves are clouded by the fact that more often than not they’ve advanced to the garden under Norm.
 
A frustration loss in a game they needed badly. It was nice to see them convert on the penalty shot and a two on one, but overall, the offense was pretty much nonexistent. According to the advanced metrics, the Hawks only attempted 29 shots for the game compared to 60 for PC.

Game Recap

Big series with UMA starts on Thursday night, The Minutemen are also fighting for a tournament spot. As of this morning, UMA is 12th in PWR while the Hawks are 14th.
,
 
Lowell was picked to finish last going into this season. The team we’ve seen this second half is playing like a last place team. Talent is a big part of it. Maybe some of these OHL players can provide a boost next season. It’s all Norm can hope for.

UMA has 9 draft picks and is getting better as the season goes along.
 
Going to be watching Penn State, Quinnipiac, and Arizona State with a close eye next weekend. All only have two games left and they won't be easy. Ideally Penn State (somehow) gets swept at home vs. Minnesota, Quinnipiac splits with the north country teams, and Arizona State splits with Omaha. Not a stats or advanced analytics guy but if those scenarios happen and Lowell is able to go 2-2 then I think they can grab the #13 seed. Could be completely wrong about all of this but I think that's the most realistic scenario for them to get in. Quinnipiac is on fire and Penn State is at home and already played two close games on the road against Minnesota, so again, I still think it's a long shot.
 
Man... this series against UMass-Amherst is HUGE. Given the pairwise situation, this could be an either-or situation for these two programs. A sweep could really put UML in the driver's seat for a spot in the dance. We're all rooting for you.
 
This team found it's way into the net earlier this season but has made a lot of questionable plays. Breakouts particularly have been ugly at times. I swear some of these guys aren't even looking up
 
Lowell2001 said:
Going to be watching Penn State, Quinnipiac, and Arizona State with a close eye next weekend. All only have two games left and they won't be easy. Ideally Penn State (somehow) gets swept at home vs. Minnesota, Quinnipiac splits with the north country teams, and Arizona State splits with Omaha. Not a stats or advanced analytics guy but if those scenarios happen and Lowell is able to go 2-2 then I think they can grab the #13 seed. Could be completely wrong about all of this but I think that's the most realistic scenario for them to get in. Quinnipiac is on fire and Penn State is at home and already played two close games on the road against Minnesota, so again, I still think it's a long shot.
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Penn State had a big weekend with a tie and a win at #2 Michigan State.
 
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