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University of New Hampshire Athletics
Grad student goalie Mike Robinson made 32 saves in Sunday's 3-0 shutout of No. 13 UMass Lowell.
Photo by: China Wong
Insider Report: Alfond Bound
2/17/2022 2:09:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey, UNH Insider
'Cats Aim to Ride Big Win Into Weekend Series at Maine
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team has had some wild – and tough – adventures when venturing up I-95 to play the University of Maine in Alfond Arena in Orono.
The last time up was neither wild nor particularly tough as Maine games go.
The Wildcats knocked off Maine, 7-2, in Alfond on March 10 in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. No fans were in attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions.
This weekend, head coach Mike Souza's group heads back to Orono looking for similar results under much more normal conditions: large and boisterous crowds, featuring lively student sections in a balcony hanging above the ice, are expected for the games on Friday and Saturday nights.
Friday's game starts at 7 and will be on NESN. Saturday's is at 7 on College SportsLive.
"Yeah, they treat me pretty well up there," said UNH grad student goalie Mike Robinson with a laugh. "No, no. They're pretty hostile. But I love it. Other than playing at the Whitt, it's my favorite building to play in."
UNH is down to just five games left in the regular season.
After the Maine weekend, UNH plays Merrimack at home Saturday, Feb. 26 and then closes out with a series against UMass Lowell. The teams play Friday, March 4 at the Whittemore Center for Senior Night and then finish up the next night at Lowell.
Individual and group tickets for home games are available at www.unhwildcats.com and by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at 603-862-4000. Under the school's COVID-19 regulations, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, must wear masks at all indoor athletic events.
Wildcat-Black Bear games, Border Battle contests sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings, are always special and circled on the calendar.
"UNH-Maine is one of the reasons you picked the school - whether it's UNH or Maine - to play in this series," said Souza, a UNH alum. "I know our guys are excited to get up there and play. It's a fun atmosphere. It's a hostile environment. That's always more exciting. It's loud and it's fun."
The two teams are jockeying for Hockey East playoff spots and each posted a big win last weekend.
The Wildcats are 13-14-1 overall and 7-11-1 in the league.
They moved past Boston College and into the eighth spot in the league with a bounce-back 3-0 win over UMass Lowell, ranked No. 13 in the country, last Sunday. UNH fell at Vermont, 3-0, on Friday night.
Five of UNH's seven league wins are against teams ranked in the Top 20 and the Wildcats are 6-3-0 overall against ranked teams.
UNH would love to climb higher in the standings and especially wants to hold onto at least its current spot. The teams ranked sixth, seventh and eighth earn home games for the first round of the playoffs.
The Wildcats are two points in front of BC, nine in front of Vermont and 10 ahead of Maine. Three points are awarded for a win in regulation.
Maine is 5-17-4 overall and 3-13-2 in league play.
The Black Bears earned a split last weekend at No. 9 Massachusetts with a 3-2 win in overtime on Friday night and 4-2 loss on Saturday.
"It kind of shows how the standings don't really mater," said senior forward Filip Engaras of last weekend's results for New Hampshire and Maine. "Every team is really in it and you've got to be playing your best every game. It's a one-game mentality and then move on."
It's on to Maine.
"If we're playing our game and executing these last few games, I think we can definitely make a push toward the top of the Hockey East standings," Robinson said. "I think the expectation in the room is that we will."
Robinson was named Hockey East's Goalie of the Week in part for his 32-save blanking of Lowell on Sunday. It was his second shutout of the season and third time he has won the league award.
He lowered his goals against average to 2.28 goals per game and upped his save percentage to .917 last weekend.
"It just shows how good of a goalie he is and when he plays well he's going to step up and make those important saves and that makes us play a little more loose," Engaras said. "It's just huge for us to have him back there."
The Wildcats will look to ride Sunday's win over UMass Lowell into the next few weekends.
"A win like that will definitely spark the group," Robinson said. "We've just got to find our consistency. These last four of five games are so huge for us to climb in the standings."
THE ROAD AHEAD
· The games against Maine in Orono are at 7 on Friday night and 7 on Saturday.
· Hockey East's unbalanced schedule has led to Maine and UNH not playing in each other's building each year the past few seasons.
· Souza said he hopes going forward that schedules can be arranged so that the teams will be able to play in each building each season.
· UNH is 18-40-7 all-time in Alfond.
· Maine is 9-23-3 in the Whittemore Center.
· Ben Barr is in his first year as Maine's coach.
· He replaced Red Gendron, who passed away last April.
· Barr spent the last five years as an assistant at Massachusetts and helped the Minutemen to the 2021 NCAA championship.
· Every Hockey East game will be livestreamed for free on College SportsLive.
· All UNH games are also available on the Wildcat Sports Radio Network.
· Fans can purchase group and individual game tickets at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the UNH Wildcats box office at 603-862-4000 (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm).
· Fans must wear masks while inside the Whittemore Center.
· The Wildcats have five games remaining. All are Hockey East contests.
· UNH faces Merrimack at home on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., presented by EnviroVantage for Game Show Night.
· The Wildcats close out the regular season with a series against UMass Lowell.
· They are home for Senior Night on Friday, March 4 at 7 p.m.
· They finish out the regular season with a game at UMass Lowell on Saturday, March 5.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
The last time up was neither wild nor particularly tough as Maine games go.
The Wildcats knocked off Maine, 7-2, in Alfond on March 10 in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. No fans were in attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions.
This weekend, head coach Mike Souza's group heads back to Orono looking for similar results under much more normal conditions: large and boisterous crowds, featuring lively student sections in a balcony hanging above the ice, are expected for the games on Friday and Saturday nights.
Friday's game starts at 7 and will be on NESN. Saturday's is at 7 on College SportsLive.
"Yeah, they treat me pretty well up there," said UNH grad student goalie Mike Robinson with a laugh. "No, no. They're pretty hostile. But I love it. Other than playing at the Whitt, it's my favorite building to play in."
UNH is down to just five games left in the regular season.
After the Maine weekend, UNH plays Merrimack at home Saturday, Feb. 26 and then closes out with a series against UMass Lowell. The teams play Friday, March 4 at the Whittemore Center for Senior Night and then finish up the next night at Lowell.
Individual and group tickets for home games are available at www.unhwildcats.com and by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at 603-862-4000. Under the school's COVID-19 regulations, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, must wear masks at all indoor athletic events.
Wildcat-Black Bear games, Border Battle contests sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings, are always special and circled on the calendar.
"UNH-Maine is one of the reasons you picked the school - whether it's UNH or Maine - to play in this series," said Souza, a UNH alum. "I know our guys are excited to get up there and play. It's a fun atmosphere. It's a hostile environment. That's always more exciting. It's loud and it's fun."
The two teams are jockeying for Hockey East playoff spots and each posted a big win last weekend.
The Wildcats are 13-14-1 overall and 7-11-1 in the league.
They moved past Boston College and into the eighth spot in the league with a bounce-back 3-0 win over UMass Lowell, ranked No. 13 in the country, last Sunday. UNH fell at Vermont, 3-0, on Friday night.
Five of UNH's seven league wins are against teams ranked in the Top 20 and the Wildcats are 6-3-0 overall against ranked teams.
UNH would love to climb higher in the standings and especially wants to hold onto at least its current spot. The teams ranked sixth, seventh and eighth earn home games for the first round of the playoffs.
The Wildcats are two points in front of BC, nine in front of Vermont and 10 ahead of Maine. Three points are awarded for a win in regulation.
Maine is 5-17-4 overall and 3-13-2 in league play.
The Black Bears earned a split last weekend at No. 9 Massachusetts with a 3-2 win in overtime on Friday night and 4-2 loss on Saturday.
"It kind of shows how the standings don't really mater," said senior forward Filip Engaras of last weekend's results for New Hampshire and Maine. "Every team is really in it and you've got to be playing your best every game. It's a one-game mentality and then move on."
It's on to Maine.
"If we're playing our game and executing these last few games, I think we can definitely make a push toward the top of the Hockey East standings," Robinson said. "I think the expectation in the room is that we will."
Robinson was named Hockey East's Goalie of the Week in part for his 32-save blanking of Lowell on Sunday. It was his second shutout of the season and third time he has won the league award.
He lowered his goals against average to 2.28 goals per game and upped his save percentage to .917 last weekend.
"It just shows how good of a goalie he is and when he plays well he's going to step up and make those important saves and that makes us play a little more loose," Engaras said. "It's just huge for us to have him back there."
The Wildcats will look to ride Sunday's win over UMass Lowell into the next few weekends.
"A win like that will definitely spark the group," Robinson said. "We've just got to find our consistency. These last four of five games are so huge for us to climb in the standings."
THE ROAD AHEAD
· The games against Maine in Orono are at 7 on Friday night and 7 on Saturday.
· Hockey East's unbalanced schedule has led to Maine and UNH not playing in each other's building each year the past few seasons.
· Souza said he hopes going forward that schedules can be arranged so that the teams will be able to play in each building each season.
· UNH is 18-40-7 all-time in Alfond.
· Maine is 9-23-3 in the Whittemore Center.
· Ben Barr is in his first year as Maine's coach.
· He replaced Red Gendron, who passed away last April.
· Barr spent the last five years as an assistant at Massachusetts and helped the Minutemen to the 2021 NCAA championship.
· Every Hockey East game will be livestreamed for free on College SportsLive.
· All UNH games are also available on the Wildcat Sports Radio Network.
· Fans can purchase group and individual game tickets at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the UNH Wildcats box office at 603-862-4000 (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm).
· Fans must wear masks while inside the Whittemore Center.
· The Wildcats have five games remaining. All are Hockey East contests.
· UNH faces Merrimack at home on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., presented by EnviroVantage for Game Show Night.
· The Wildcats close out the regular season with a series against UMass Lowell.
· They are home for Senior Night on Friday, March 4 at 7 p.m.
· They finish out the regular season with a game at UMass Lowell on Saturday, March 5.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Ice HockeySunday, March 08
Tuesday, March 03
Tuesday, February 24
Sunday, February 22