How they posted nearly 50 shots tonight is miraculous. Passes were not crisp, puck was bouncing, and shots were from far away. The team did a good job cycling the puck in the zone, but always had all three forwards on the same side of the net. As for Dainton, he was not the best goalie, but certainly did control the puck limiting rebounds. Not discounting his ability, some saves throughout the game did appear to be lucky for him.
UMass's goals were epic failures in defense. Goal 1 was on the power-play with Madore going behind the net not returning in time for the open UMass player in front. Don't remember which was 2 and 3, but one was the puck bouncing of sticks and skates on the breakout giving the turnover to a forechecking UMass and a UVM that was on its way out of the zone and the other came from a point shot that was tipped in (three men in green were all behind the goal line).
Third period had a great start with the shorthanded goal in the first minute, but without a quick follow-up, hope faded.
Not a pretty night. Hopefully Friday is an improvement.
While not an excuse at all, it did seem like the refs positioning was interfering with play of both teams. On multiple occassions, the puck carrier would use the ref as a basketball player would set a pick.
Did anyone check the UVM goal called back due to the penalty? McCarthy was pushed down on Dainton who was already sprawled out on the ice in front of the crease.
Were Hansen and McDonald (Refs) protecting Dainton with two interference calls on UVM.
Let's see if all the bases were covered:
- Blaming the refs...check
- Saying the other team was lucky...check
- Claiming the better team didn't win...MISS
Well, you get a two out of three for excuse
making.