{"id":138217,"date":"2023-01-19T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T12:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=138217"},"modified":"2023-01-18T21:47:32","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T03:47:32","slug":"this-week-in-hockey-east-confidence-not-waning-for-new-hampshire-as-wildcats-have-taken-steps-in-how-competitive-we-are-collectively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2023\/01\/19\/this-week-in-hockey-east-confidence-not-waning-for-new-hampshire-as-wildcats-have-taken-steps-in-how-competitive-we-are-collectively\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Hockey East: Confidence not waning for New Hampshire as Wildcats have ‘taken steps in how competitive we are collectively’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
David Fessenden began his NCAA career at Alabama Huntsville before transferring to UNH (photo: Rick Wilson).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To say that the season to date for New Hampshire has been a difficult one is an understatement.<\/p>\n

The Wildcats began the year with two wins at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, a notably tough series over the year. But from that point, UNH had but a single win \u2013 a late-October win over Army West point \u2013 until an exciting overtime victory over Arizona State in the final game before break.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got to a point that no matter what you say in the group, the individual man was probably saying, \u2018Are we ever going to win a game?\u2019\u201d said UNH coach Michael Souza. \u201cYou say the right things: \u2018Trust the process. It\u2019s going to break. It\u2019s going to go our way.\u2019<\/p>\n

“In the Arizona State game, we\u2019re up, we\u2019re tied. We\u2019re up again, we\u2019re tied. When things aren\u2019t going well, you find a way to lose games. When things are going well, you create a way to win them. So it was like a sense of relief to go into the break.\u201d<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t translate into automatic wins like a switch flipped. The Wildcats lost twice against Union to start the second half of the year. But after those two one-goal losses, the Wildcats won three straight and the mentality in the locker room has changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt this way at times in the first half, but not consecutive days,\u201d said Souza. \u201cIt\u2019s a maturity that players have to go through individually and teams have to go through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t there early in the year; we weren\u2019t detailed to where we need to be. And I\u2019m not saying that we\u2019re a finished product. But we\u2019ve taken steps in how competitive we are collectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe not the only ingredient in UNH\u2019s recent success, but certainly a very key one, has been the play of goaltender David Fessenden. Though he currently holds a decent .914 save percentage and a 2.52 goals-against average, over the last two weekends that save percentage is .977 and his goals against a stingy 0.67.<\/p>\n

The switchover for a goaltender is difficult for any coach to understand and define. Souza, though, is okay pointing to the offseason and the work that his fourth-year goaltender has put in.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo two goalies are alike, I swear,\u201d joked Souza. \u201cDavid\u2019s a little bit older, he\u2019s the oldest player on our team. He is meticulous in his preparation. At times he gets frustrated, maybe last year, not getting the net more and maybe this year at time. He\u2019s played pretty well all year, aside from a couple of games.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he completely transformed his body this year with our strength coach Will Morey. He made a significant body transformation from where he was last year and I think that\u2019s why he\u2019s quicker, he\u2019s more agile. He has the ability to make saves that he wouldn\u2019t have had in the past. Today\u2019s technology makes it more amazing. He\u2019s lost weight but gained lean muscle mass and bone density. All stuff that has helped him become a better goalie.\u201d<\/p>\n

The road ahead for New Hampshire isn\u2019t an easy one. They\u2019ve dug themselves a hole, of which Souza is aware. In tenth place and surrendering games in had to almost every team in front, something like hosting a playoff game might seem like a pipe dream.<\/p>\n

But Souza also understands that the way the Hockey East tournament sets up \u2013 a single-elimination tournament where all teams qualify \u2013 all you need is two wins to go from the bottom of the standings to earning a spot in the TD Garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t excepting to be where we are in the league, but we are where we are and we\u2019ll be where we\u2019ll be,\u201d said Souza. \u201c[Adversity] makes you a little bit harder as an athlete and we\u2019re better for it. The key now is to sustain it. You\u2019ve gotten people\u2019s attention with a couple of wins. They\u2019re going to have their radar up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To say that the season to date for New Hampshire has been a difficult one is an understatement. The Wildcats began the year with two wins at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, a notably tough series over the year. But from that point, UNH had but a single win \u2013 a late-October win over Army West […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":138218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[800],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in Hockey East: Confidence not waning for New Hampshire as Wildcats have 'taken steps in how competitive we are collectively' - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To say that the season to date for New Hampshire has been a difficult one is an understatement. 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