March 20, 2007

AMHERST, Mass. - For the first time in school history, the No. 4-seeded Mass Attack has played its way to the NCAA Tournament, playing in the East Regional at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. and will face No. 1 seed Clarkson of the ECACHL at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 23 in the first semifinal game. No. 2 seed St. Cloud State of the WCHA will face No. 3 seed Maine in the night semifinal at 6 p.m.

The Minutemen--picked to finish seventh in the preseason Hockey East Coaches' poll--finished in fourth place in the regular season standings after their sweep of Maine the weekend of March 2. They followed that up with an unprecedented sweep of the Black Bears the following weekend to advance in the league tourney, where they fell to UNH 3-2 in double-overtime.

Massachusetts is ranked No. 12 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey poll and the USCHO.com/CSTV poll, marking its highest ranking since the Dec. 29, 2003 poll when it came in at No. 11. Fans that can't make it to the games can listen live via umassathletics.com, while the games are beings televised by ESPNU, picked up locally by CN8.

LAST TIME OUT The Minutemen (20-12-5, 15-9-3 HEA) made it to the TD Banknorth Garden for the Hockey East tournament by virtue of the quarterfinals sweep of Maine, but fell in double-overtime to New Hampshire. Alex Berry knotted the game at one apiece in the first period and Chris Capraro gave the Minutemen the 2-1 edge in the second. The Wildcats scored just under two minutes into the second overtime, UMass' second-consecutive multiple-overtime game in the Hockey East tournament. Capraro was named to the All-Tournament team for his efforts, while Jon Quick made 38 saves in the loss. Cory Quirk, who had an assist in the game, extended his six-game scring streak with the helper.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS No. 1-seeded Clarkson made it to Rochester after a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Quinnipiac in the ECACHL Championship. The Bobcats were up 2-0 on Clarkson before the four-unanswered goals that sealed the comeback. Shawn Weller leads the Golden Knights in scoring with 40 points, while four others have reached the 30-point mark: Nick Dodge (39); David Cayer (37); Steve Zalewski (34); and Shea Guthrie (31). In net, David Leggio has seen the vast majority of games, going 24-6-5 on the season with a 2.20 GAA and .929 sv%. He was named the ECACHL's Ken Dryden Goaltender of the year, as well as being a first-team all-league selection. Dodge was a first-team forward as well.

FOR STARTERS Massachusetts is 2-0-1 all-time against Clarkson, including this season's 3-3 OT tie vs. the Golden Knights on October 14 in Amherst. All games have taken place under Head Coach Don Cahoon. The Minutemen have outscored Clarkson 13-10 in that span. P.J. Fenton, Chris Davis and Cory Quirk registered goals in this season's meeting, with Quirk adding a helper as well. Jon Quick made 27 saves in his first start.

MINUTEMEN BREAK THROUGH TO THE NCAA'S There is a first time for everything, and for UMass, that thing is making the NCAA tournament. In 2003-04, the Minutemen were one goal shy of an automatic bid, falling to Maine in the epic triple-overtime game in the Hockey East Championships. The game remains the longest in league tournament history. The 2006-07 UMass squad was offered a 4-seed in the East Regional in Rochester, while four other league schools were given bids: fellow East Regional 3-seed Maine, No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional New Hampshire (playing in Manchester, N.H.), No. 2 seed in the Northeast Regional Boston College, and Boston University is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional (playing in Grand Rapids, Mich.). Five NCAA-qualifying teams is an all-time high for Hockey East.

TOOT IN THE TOURNEY Don Cahoon is one of 13 NCAA DI coaches to have taken more than one team to the NCAA tournament. Five of those 13 coaches have teams in the 2007 NCAA's, while Jerry York is the other league coach who has accomplished the feat (with BC and BGSU). Cahoon led Princeton to the NCAA's back in 1998, and was a left wing for BU when they won it all in 1971 and 1972.

`QUICK'LY BECOMING ONE OF THE LEAGUE'S BEST Jon Quick's 34 appearances between the pipes is a career high and his save percentage ranks No. 6 nationally (GAA: No. 12). Among league netminders, his save percentage (.928) ranks third and his GAA (2.20) sixth. He is one of eight NCAA DI goaltenders to reach the 2000-minute plateau in 2006-07 and one of four sophomore netminders to reach the mark. Quick has allowed two or fewer goals in 22 of 35 games, while the March 3 win over Maine (his 16th of the season) quadrupled his win totals from a year ago. Both career shutouts have come as a sophomore.

Quick set a UMass Hockey Modern Era (1993-present) record for wins in a season with his 18th, recorded on March 10 vs. the Black Bears. He's also sitting at No. 1 in the saves category with 987, shattering the record owned by Markus Helanen ('98-99) who made 885 stops. He has set the record for games played in a season (35) and surpassed Gabe Winer's 2050 minutes (2003-04) with 2097:28 this season.

He earned back-to-back league awards for his performances vs. Maine, taking the Player of the Week honors after his 59-save weekend that earned the Minutemen home ice vs. the Black Bears, before turning around and making 73 saves in the quarterfinals with a 2.00 GAA and .948 sv% to earn the Defensive Player of the Week award.

DEFENSEMAN CENTERED AT FORWARD Mark Matheson has split time at defense and forward during his collegiate career, and is reaping the offensive benefits in his final season as a centerman. Eight of his 13 goals this season have come in UMass wins, and he notched his first career hat trick in the 6-2 win over Niagara on Dec. 1. His 13 goals on the season sets a new career-best, more than quadrupling his previous best of three and number six better than his previous three seasons combined. Matheson scored the first, fourth and sixth (final) goal vs. the Niagara Purple Eagles, setting a new mark for goals and points in a game. His 24 points on the season are tied for third on the team in scoring, while his 13 goals are tied for first overall (Cory Quirk also has 13). He is one of seven defensemen nationally to reach the 10-goal mark. He ranks second among all DI blueliners with 13 goals, behind Michigan's Jack Johnson, who has 16 on the season. Among league defensemen, he is tied for the third in points with 24 along with Maine's Bret Tyler.

BACK IN ROCHESTER David Leaderer is the lone UMass Minuteman to hail from Rochester, N.Y. Prior to two seasons with the Boston Jr. Bruins, Leaderer played at Greece Arcadia High School under head coach Mike Germain. He was a three-time New York Selects member and won a gold medal in the 2003 Empire State Games.

UMASS' SIX OF SEVEN A balanced attack has defined this Massachusetts squad throughout 2006-07. This couldn't be more apparent than in the last seven games, in which the Minutemen have gone 6-1-0, outscoring their opponents 25-14. Sixteen of 20 dressed skaters registered a point or more, including seven with six points or more: Chris Capraro (2-7-9); Mike Kostka (2-5-7); Cory Quirk (3-4-7); Matt Anderson (4-2-6); and P.J. Fenton (2-4-6); Alex Berry (3-3-6); and David Leaderer (1-5-6). Jon Quick has been the difference-maker in net, holding a 1.73 GAA and .946 sv% in his six games played. Dan Meyers made the other start for UMass.

IN ELITE COMPANY Two Minutemen seniors are working their way up UMass' all-time scoring chart: Chris Capraro is currently in ninth place with his 95 points, while Matt Anderson comes in tied for 13th with 90 career points.

Capraro (28g, 67a) and Anderson (33g, 57a) are two of 11 Hockey East student-athletes that have reached the 90-point mark. Below are the other nine:

UMass Lowell's Jason Tejchma (40-56-96)