Welcome back to Just Take A Minute on Tuesday. We invite you to join us for the Bud Light UMass Hockey Show at 7 p.m., tonight at the Hangar Pub & Grille in Amherst. JTAM has lots of UMass news from various teams as the spring season for softball and men's lacrosse gets underway this Friday.
No student-athlete birthdays on Feb. 9
HOCKEY
On USCHO.com Elliot Olshansky has some tidbits on the Mass Attack. UMass has one of the most dynamic one-two punches in the nation in the tandem of junior James Marcou and sophomore Casey Wellman. Marcou, with his nine goals and 32 assists in 27 games, is No. 3 in the nation in scoring average at 1.52 points per game, while Wellman is 11th, his 19 goals and 16 assists averaging out to approximately 1.30 points per game.
Former NHL scout Kyle Woodlief mentions Casey Wellman in his "Red Line" report in USA Today. Woodlief gives this scouting report on Wellman: "Casey has an NHL-caliber snap shot and slap shot with very good accuracy. He has great speed and quickness for a guy his size and uses it to beat defenders to the outside. He's also really good at finding the seams in the defense and getting open for his shot, and he's always at the ready with his stick on the ice for an immediate release."
Fans can vote for Martin Nolet for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Fan voting counts for 1/3 of the total ballot. You can see Nolet's official Senior CLASS Award nomination here..
Don't forget you can also vote for the UMass All-Decade Team at Hockey East Online. The UMass All-Decade Team will be announced during the final home game against Merrimack on Feb. 20.
UMass stands 18th in the newest USCHO.com Poll. Joining the Minutemen from Hockey East are: No. 10 BC, No. 12 Maine, No. 15. UNH, No. 17 Vermont and No. 20 UMass-Lowell. Here's a look at the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll where UMass is now the first team "receiving votes." From Hockey East: BC is No. 10, Maine is No. 12 and UNH is No. 15.
This weekend's foe Northeastern handled Harvard, 4-1, in the Beanpot Consolation on Monday night. The Boston Globe has this recap.
Boston College continues to roll as the Eagles captured the Beanpot title with a 4-3 win over Boston University. The Boston Globe, Inside College Hockey, NESN have coverage.
The Daily Collegian has a Hockey East notebook with updates on the polls.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
In the latest AP Poll, UMass has faced three ranked foes: No. 10 Michigan State, No. 21 Temple and No. 24 Baylor. Cornell, Charlotte and Rhode Island are also inching up in the "others receiving votes."
From URI, the student paper, the Good 5 Cent Cigar has a recap from Saturday's men's hoop game at the Ryan Center.
The Springfield News Sun in Ohio has its weekly A-10 notebook looking at how weather impacted this past weekend's slate of games.
The Daily Collegian also has a notebook on Atlantic 10 basketball with a look at Dayton pounding Xavier on Saturday.
FOOTBALL
Former UMass assistant coach Mike Cassano has been named running backs coach with the University of Miami, where he will work under former Minuteman head coach Mark Whipple. The Miami Herald has the story. Cassano returns to UM, where he was a graduate assistant from 2005 through 2006. He was on the staff at UMass when the Minutemen won the 1998 FCS crown.
The Bleacher Report mentions Vladimir Ducasse as a possible draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks.
UMass rival New Hampshire has released its 2010 football schedule. The Wildcats FBS game is at Pitt. UNH has won five straight games over FBS teams with victories over the likes of Rutgers, Northwestern, Marshall, Army and Ball State since 2004.
SWIMMING & DIVING
In approximately a week and a half, the Massachusetts men's swimming and diving team will attempt to win an unprecedented fourth-straight Atlantic 10 title. But as the race gets closer, the Minutemen continue to simply prepare themselves one day at a time. The A-10 Championships will be held in Buffalo, N.Y., on Feb. 17-20. The Daily Collegian has the story.
TRACK & FIELD
The Daily Collegian takes a look at the results from the Giegengack Invite.
MEN'S LACROSSE
From over the weekend, Inside Lacrosse has this recap of UMass' scrimmage loss to Army at West Point, 7-5.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
The Minutewomen returned to Amherst Monday morning after a red-eye airplane flight back from San Diego, where they lost to No. 1 Northwestern. Here's a recap from NU's paper, the Daily Northwestern.
Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: The Game Promotions Page has all the latest on this weekend's events as the Mullins Center hosts three games in three days. Friday's hockey game is Bright Out Night
- The first 3,000 students will receive white t-shirts. Saturday's women's basketball game is Pink Zone Day
-Breast Cancer Awareness game.
Don't Miss This: Tonight, join us at the Hangar Pub & Grille for the Bud Light UMass Hockey Radio Show at 7 p.m. Come out and meet Coach Toot Cahoon and members of the Mass Attack.
Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints and the state of Louisiana for their first-ever Super Bow title. Here in Western Mass, there will be a special Bud Light UMass Basketball Show tonight at 7 p.m. Come on out to the Rumbleseat in Chicopee to meet Derek Kellogg and listen to his radio show. Just Take a Minute has a look back at the weekend of events for UMass teams.
Things came unhinged in a hurry for the hockey team in the first period Friday night.
The No. 15 Minutemen spotted No. 14 Boston College a four-goal lead before the first intermission and stumbled to a 7-1 loss in front of a record-tying crowd of 8,389 at a sold out Mullins Center. Here are the reviews: Springfield Republican, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Daily Collegian, USCHO, Boston Herald, NBC22, NESN.com.
Former UMass hockey player Scott Crowder organized the the first-ever New England Pond Hockey Classic in Meredith, New Hampshire this weekend. "I knew the fan base was there, the hockey community is tight knit so one guy gets an e-mail and forwards it to a few buddies and asks them, all of a sudden we have seventy-seven teams and 450 participants," said tournament director Crowder. "This is what hockey's all about, when you grow up playing hockey this is how you play. The Lakes Region was a great spot to host this tournament. It's a perfect for it." Read more in the Laconia Citizen.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette has a notebook leading with Ricky Harris moving to fourth in career scoring at UMass.
Another UMass alum will be joining the D-League as Luke Bonner is going to sign with the Austin Texas, according to the Springfield Republican. At Saturday's Toros 114-98 win at the Springfield Armor (with UMass' Maurice Maxwell and Dante Milligan), Bonner was traveling with the Toros after being released from the Manchester Millrats last week. He also played six games in Hungary for Albacomp-UPC Szekesfehervar.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The women's basketball team distributed 19 assists on 20 field goals in its 60-50 win over Fordham at the Mullins Center on Saturday.
Freshman center Jasmine Watson scored a career-high 21 points and added eight rebounds, three blocks and one assist to lead the Minutewomen (9-14, 3-5 Atlantic 10). Here are recaps: Daily Collegian, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Boston Globe, Springfield Republican, The Examiner.
The Daily Collegian also has a sidebar on the impressive play of thr frontcourt led by Watson.
FOOTBALL
The New Haven Register has a mention of UMass' Vladimir Ducasse as the NFL Combine nears, starting on Feb. 25.
SOFTBALL
The Bristol Press in Connecticut mentions No. 20 UMass softball and the start of the season on Friday in Florida. Two Bristol products, junior outfielder Audrey Boutin and sophomore hurler Sara Plourde, both Bristol Eastern graduates, can help raise that ranking soon after their season begins just a few days from now.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Top-ranked Northwestern scored the first seven goals and went on to an 18-6 win over the women's lacrosse team in the season opener Saturday at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego. The Daily Hampshire Gazette, Daily Collegian and LaxPower have a look back.
Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: Sign up for the weekly Maroon & White e-newsletter for all the latest news on UMass Athletics.
Don't Miss This: Tonight, its a special Bud Light UMass Basketball Radio Show at the Rumbleseat in Chicopee at 7 p.m. Come out and meet Coach Derek Kellogg. Weekly league honors will be handed out on Monday. Derek Kellogg also has his weekly A-10 teleconference at 11 a.m., check back for the transcript.
