For some teams the semester break is perfectly timed to get players rested, healed up and re-charged heading into the second half of the season. For Western New England, the break came when the team had just found its game as the Golden Bears shook off a 1-6-0 start to go unbeaten in their last five games including a road win over Curry and a sweep of weekend series with Nichols. WNE is excited to come back to continue their momentum and maybe surprise others in the CCC that their recent good form is no fluke.
“Our assistant coach, Zach Stein, got the team going by saying a win is a fluke but two is a streak and merely adding up to the fluke number as the streak continued to close out the first half,” said head coach Michael Young. “It’s cliché but we have been very focused on the output more than the outcome but this group has built some confidence and a “we can do this” attitude that has helped get through the rough patches you go through in every game. The confidence builds when you get on a roll, so the break wasn’t something we looked forward to but now we come back against Anna Maria on Saturday to prove that “five unbeaten is a fluke and six unbeaten is a streak.”
While this year’s roster includes 14 new players, including several transfers, the coach and system aren’t new to majority of the players who have helped bring their new teammates along with the style of play coach Young expects to see on the ice.
“We would have obviously liked a better start but the pieces came together well before the semester break,” noted Young. “The CCC is a very competitive league and every team is in striking distance any night with the talent level out there in D-III hockey now. I think the landscape has changed where a lot of good players aren’t going to the same 12 or 15 schools and I think that has helped the balance across conferences and the level of play overall.”
One of the key performers for the Golden Bears this season has been junior defenseman Shane Miller. Miller finished the first half of the season with four goals and 14 assists for 18 points, leading the team in points and just two points away from his season high last year. He received CCC Player of the week honors for his seven points in a two-game sweep of Nichols that started the fluke vs. streak commentary mentioned earlier. Miller has been a workhorse on the ice and a tremendous team leader without the letter on his jersey.
“First, Shane is a great human being,” stated Young. “Second, he is the consummate hockey player. He is very self-motivated, plays very efficiently and doesn’t force the game into places it doesn’t work. He has always wanted to develop and be better and this year has really simplified his game so he can consistently play 36 minutes a game. He sees the ice really well and intuitively knows the right times to transition into the offensive end of the ice. Shane has focused on being more disciplined, including reducing the number of penalties he picks up in comparison with last season. It was a team goal to be better about being shorthanded and he personally has lowered his own infractions as an example for others. While he may not be a captain, he has become a great leader and a role model for the younger players.”
The Golden Bears resume action on Saturday night with a non-conference game against Anna Maria and then finish out the second half with all CCC home-and-home action starting with Salve Regina on January 13-14 and Wentworth and Suffolk to close out January.
