AMHERST - University of Massachusetts hockey coach Don "Toot" Cahoon hopes his team can build off the good things that came out of last weekend's series with Boston University, while overcoming the considerable frustration that came from the problems.

UMass took a two-goal lead Friday and a three-goal lead Saturday, but finished the two games with a tie and a loss, respectively. The Minutemen travel to New Hampshire Friday and host Boston College on Saturday. Both games are at 7 p.m.

"It's incredibly frustrating, but there were a lot of good things. (BU) was playing well. We were playing well and we played well after we had the three-goal lead," Cahoon said. "We played well at the start of the second period ... until we missed an assignment coverage-wise for goal one ... until we didn't settle things down in front of our net for goal two. Then the wheels came off for a little bit.

"But even then, when we were down 4-3 and we needed a goal to get back in it, we executed and got the goal to make it 4-4," he continued. "It doesn't take the sting away from the final result. It was incredibly disappointing. We're angry about it. Something has to give here. There were a lot of things we did better this weekend than we did the previous one."

Senior cocaptain Danny Hobbs said the Minutemen were eager to get back into action and put Saturday's loss behind them.

"We have to come back and make sure everyone is focused on what we need to do," he said. "Being up three goals and ultimately losing is a tough pill to swallow. If we're a winning team the results are going to come."

New Hampshire struggled out of the gate, losing its first four games of the season. The team allowed an average of 5.25 goals per game over that stretch capped by a 7-5 loss to St. Cloud State on Oct. 21. But the Wildcats bounced back the next night playing St. Cloud State to a 3-3 tie. That seemed to ignite coach Dick Umile's squad as they swept last weekend with a 2-1 win over Union and a 5-2 victory over Northeastern.

The Wildcats are ranked ninth out of 10 Hockey East teams in both goals scored (2.29 per game) and goals allowed (3.86).

Sophomore Nick Sorkin's seven points (four goals, three assists) lead UNH. Senior goalie Matt Di Girolamo struggled early but has bounced back lately. He's 2-3-0 with an .867 save percentage and a 3.84 goals against average.

The No. 1 ranked Eagles have won five straight, including a 4-2 win over UMass on Oct. 21, heading into tonight's game against Maine at 7. Since the UMass victory, BC beat Northeastern 4-3 in overtime then swept Lowell, 4-2 and 6-3.

Cahoon said the Minutemen weren't focused on their opponents.

"We just have to deal with what we're trying to do and get that right and get it to the point where we're executing so well that it doesn't matter who we're playing against," he said.

MASTALERZ READY - UMass' goalie duet is set to become a trio. Freshman Steve Mastalerz, who missed the beginning of the season with an injury, has been cleared to play. Cahoon wasn't sure when he'd get into the mix along with sophomore Jeff Teglia and freshman Kevin Boyle.

"He's healthy now," Cahoon said. "He's as ready as those guys were when they got their first shot."

NOTES - Hockey East signed a deal with NBC Sports Network, which will be the new name of the network currently called Versus on Jan. 2. It will carry three regular season games this year and four Hockey East tournament games, including the semifinals and finals on March 16-17. Those games previously aired on NESN.

All the college hockey games telecast by NBC Sports will be produced by the same people who do that network's NHL coverage. NBC Sports is carrying 16 college hockey games this year.

A third Hockey East game has been added to the Frozen Fenway events as Boston College will face Northeastern at 6 p.m. on Jan. 14. UMass will face Vermont on Jan. 7 at Fenway Park.

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.