11/29/2011 10:13 AM 

To finish out their November schedule and send the team into the Thanksgiving break, UMBC (12-2-2) faced a grueling 3 game weekend with two road games sandwiched around one at home.

Friday night saw the Retrievers travel up to North Jersey to square off with long-time rival William Paterson University. The troubles started hours before puckdrop when traffic stemming from an accident in the Philadelphia area caused the Retrievers to arrive at the rink a mere fifty minutes before game time. The game itself wasn't much better for UMBC as the longer than anticipated bus rides showed through on the ice. Numerous turnovers and lack of energy resulted in a 2-0 deficit after the first period. UMBC only managed five shots on goal in the frame.

The Retrievers were still a bit slow to start the second period but started to gain some momentum. They failed to get on the scoreboard due to stingy defensive play by the Pioneers, but did limit the turnovers and forced some of their own that they were unable to capitalize on. The third period saw the Retrievers take some control of the game. Offensive pressure led to numerous chances, including a breakaway by Matt Bloom (Ellicott City, MD) that was turned away by the WPU goaltender. Sean O' Connor (Stony Point, NY) eventually got UMBC on the scoreboard with 12 :47 remaining when he buried a rebound off a long shot by Justin Stewart (Philadelphia, PA). UMBC had two late power plays and pulled goaltender Jon Drago (Guttenburg, NJ) for an extra attacker, but could not find an equalizer. UMBC was outshot 41-27 on the night and fell for the first time since October 1st, when they fell 5-3 to Siena.

A little more than 13 hours after the bus arrived back on campus, the Retrievers were back on the ice to ace the Hawks of St Josephs University. In somewhat suprising fashion , UMBC came out flying, putting in six and chasing the St Joes starting goaltender before the first period was done.

Sean O'Connor once again opened the scoring for the Retrievers, he stole the puck from a Hawks defenceman while shorthanded and scored on the breakaway, however Captain Nik Jost's Penalty expired two seconds before the goal was scored, robbing O'Connor of his second shorthanded goal of the season. UMBC then went to work on the power play, scoring 3 power play goals on 3 power play opportunities, in a span of 3:45. O' Connor tallied his second of the game, Matt Bloom and Dan Durantaye (EIllicott CIty, MD) each added one to give UMBC a 4-0 lead. With a little over three minutes left in the period a Taylor Morgan (Sewell, NJ) shot leaked through the SJU goalie and lay in the crease, both O'Connor and Durantaye converged on the puck; and although it appeard initally to be a hat trick goal for O'Connor, the goal was awarded to Durantaye. Sophomore Brandon Fritz (Walled Lake, MI) scored his first goal of the season less than a minute later to give UMBC a 6-0 lead and end the night of the SJU starting goaltender.

The second period saw continued domination by the Retrievers. Freshman Dan Armstrong (Bethesda, MD) scored his third goal of the season extending the lead to seven. The Durantaye scored his third of the game, giving him the hat trick. Freshman Tyler Novielli scored the first of his UMBC career with a little over two minutes left in the frame to put UMBC up 9-0 entering the 3rd. Jost (Grosse Point Park, MI) added two goals in the final five minutes to produce the 11-0 final score. The game nearly took an ugly turn late when Stewart, a former St Joe's player was run from behind headfirst into the boards resulting in a five minute major penalty and an ejection for the Hawks player with less than a minute left. Instead of retaliating, UMBC simply went to work on the power play to finish up a night where they went a perfect 4 for 4 with Jost's second goal.

Sophomore Trevor Miller (Macomb, MI) made his third career start for the Retrievers, earning his 3rd win and first career shutout with his 14 save performance. O'Connor led all scorers with six points while Bloom, Jost and Morgan each contributed four. The Retrievers outshot the Hawks 52-14 and improved to 8-0-1 in the friendly confines of the Riesterstown Sportsplex this season.

The only blemish at home this season came at the hands of the Montclair St Redhawks. Sunday saw the Retrievers travel back up to North Jersey in an attempt to avenge that tie, where UMBC squadered a 4-1 lead with less than one minute to go in the second period. This time the bus was able to avoid traffic and arrived at the rink to allow business as usual.

A back and forth first period produced chances at both ends of the ice. Montclair St broke the scoreless tie with a little over 3 minutes to play in the first on a wraparound goal. The first period would end 1-0 Montclair. UMBC got back on track in the 2nd. Durantaye corraled a rebound in front of the net on the power play that the MSU goaltender had lost track of and put it into the gaping net to tie the score at one. The score would remained tied until the final two minutes of the frame. Taylor Morgan took a harmless looking shot from the point on the power play, but the screen in front allowed the puck to squeak by the MSU tender in into the net giving UMBC the lead. MSU would then change tenders in what appeared to be an equipment issue. UMBC would sieve that opportunity when O'Connor and Novielli teamed up on a fancy give and go out of the corner eventually leading to O'Connor sliding the puck five hole a mere 37 seconds after Morgan gave the Retrievers the lead, giving UMBC a 3-1 edge heading into the 3rd.

Matt Bloom added his team leading 14th goal of the season with 10:50 remaining in the third to give UMBC a 4-1 lead that they would not squander this time. Montclair did add a goal off of a broken play but the defence held strong to finish off a 4-2 Retriever win. UMBC outshot MSU 39-38 and Jon Drago earned his eigth win of the season. The power play went 6 for 9 on the weekend including 6 straight power play conversions across the SJU and MSU games. The power play went 11/19 (57.9%) in November after only converting on 10 of 52 opportunities (19.2%) in September/October. THe penalty kill went a perfect 7 for 7 on the weekend and has killed off 16 consecutive power play opportunties against, extending back to November 5 vs Delaware. The penalty kill went 16/17 (94.1%) in November improving on a September/October that saw the PK go 57 out of 66 (86.4 %).