For a team that has produced players like Kevin Leveille and Will Manny, it is certainly tough for the fan base to see them finish their conference with a 1-4 record. The team struggled to find an offense that worked consistently. They often looked at forward Nick Mariano, a sophomore out of New York, however success on the NCAA level can’t always just come from one player. The team needed some support around their offensive attack in order to develop into a better team.
This year the team has brought in seven freshman to the UMass roster. The Minutemen brought in the offensive duo out of New Hampshire, Buddy Carr and Dom St. Laurent. Although they did not play together the two shared the offensive player of the year award. Also standing out offensively is Peter Schalau. Schalau tallied up over 100 points a year ago. Bringing in these pieces to help Mariano will be a big plus for the Minutemen this season.
But don’t let the 2014 stats fool you as this team still has pieces that will be making a mark in 2015. Grant Whiteway will be entering his senior year and will help lead this team to a more successful season, since it is unlikely we will see these incoming freshman make an impact right out of the gates. Whiteway came off of 18 goals and six assists this past season but it seems like this year he will have more options to look at in the attacking zone. Possibly, we could see Whiteway settle into more of a set-up role. The team lost their senior, and assist leader, Connor Mooney. Mooney tallied 20 assists this past season. The new pieces as well as their growing experience will surely help UMass in the upcoming year as they played well against Providence College in their fall game a week ago.
