Three-way battle for UMass hockey team's starting goaltender job
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AMHERST - For the past four years, there were few things more reliable than who would be starting in goal for the University of Massachusetts hockey team.
During his four years as UMass' No. 1 goalie, Paul Dainton averaged 29 starts per season, while his backups started just 28 times over the length of his career. But Dainton graduated and is now trying to carve out a career with the Springfield Falcons, and the Minutemen are searching for his replacement.
Juggling three goaltenders is rare in Division I, but UMass coach Don "Toot" Cahoon will go with three until one emerges as the No. 1. The Minutemen open the season against Northeastern at 7 p.m. Friday at Matthews Arena in Boston.
"I'll use the hot hand. I expect all three will be given an opportunity to show what they can do and then based on their performance, we'll go forward," he said. "They're competing and doing really well staying within themselves."
The three are sophomore Jeff Teglia, and freshmen Kevin Boyle and Steve Mastalerz. Teglia backed up Dainton last year and saw action in nine games. The 6-foot, 180-pound Bloomingdale, Ill. product was 0-5-1 with a 4.81 goals against average.
"I know what to expect from the grind of a season," Teglia said. "There's definitely a great chance (to play). I want to seize the opportunity. It was probably one of the best summers for me as far as getting better. I think I have a much better idea. It was great getting a decent amount of time last year. I think I'm much more prepared this year."
Cahoon said Teglia still has plenty to prove.
"Jeff is coming back with varsity experience, not a ton of it, but enough to give him a sense of what is required to give us good goaltending. It was mixed results. He'd be the first to tell you that. He had a couple outings that were terrific and a couple that weren't so good. It was a real learning experience for him," said Cahoon, who added that UMass goalie coach Mike Buckley has been trying to tweak Teglia's unusual style. "Teglia is not conventional. He's a little bit of a hybrid. He doesn't make two saves look the same. He was very successful with that (in juniors). Our goalie coach is trying to get him to chase angles instead of chasing pucks. It's a work in progress."
While Teglia might have more playing time under his belt, Cahoon said there's no front-runner yet.
"Jeff can take that experience and use it to his advantage, but quite honestly the position is wide open and will be wide open until someone assumes the premiere spot on the roster," Cahoon said.
Of the two freshman, Boyle has a head start on Mastalarz, who missed practice time with an undisclosed "minor" injury according to Cahoon. Mastalarz, who is expected back shortly, is a 6-foot-2, 200-pound Meriden, N.H., native. He was a prep standout for Kimball Union.
Boyle is a 6-foot-1, 200-pound Manalapan, N.J., product who played for the Westside Warriors in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League. His coach there was former UMass graduate assistant Darren Yopyk. Boyle said he's enjoying the competition so far.
"Every practice is a battle. We have three quality goalies out there competing for one spot," Boyle said. "It's good competition out there. I've felt good, but only time will tell."
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.
