2001-2002 Season Review

UMass Dartmouth ice hockey finished the 2001-02 season with an 18-6-1 overall record and placed second in the ECAC Northeast's regular season with a 13-2 won-loss record. For the 21st straight season, the Corsairs were invited to a post season tournament, although the second-seeded Corsairs had their season cut short with a quarterfinal round loss in the ECAC Northeast playoffs.

Climbing into second place at season's end was a major accomplishment for the Corsairs who put on a major late season charge. Following a 5-4 loss to Salve Regina on Jan 31, the Corsairs ran off four straight wins over some of the ECAC's top teams, including Wentworth and Johnson and Wales, to clinch second place. In an exciting ECAC Northeast quarterfinal game against Salve Regina on Feb. 23, the Corsairs fell behind, 4-0, after two periods and fought back to 4-3 with three goals in the game's final moments.

The 2001-02 season produced several outstanding individual performances for Coach John Rolli's Corsairs. In his final season, senior Tom Brown (Milford, MA) led the Corsairs in scoring with a team-high 22 goals, fourth best in the conference. plus 14 assists for 36 points (15th in ECAC NE). Brown led the Corsairs with seven power-play goals and a pair of short-handed goals along with four game-winning goals. He finished his career with 77 goals and 78 assists for 155 points tops among ECAC NE scorers.

Senior Sean Young (Waltham, MA) was the Corsairs' second-leading scorer with 13 goals and 15 assist for 28 points. Sophomore Shawn Sheehan (Medford, MA) finished third in scoring with eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points. Among the Corsairs other top scorers were sophomore Chris Dussault (Billerica, MA) (9-10-19), sophomore Scott Gallagher (Billerica, MA) (9-9-18) and freshman Brandon Koziara (West Springfield, MA) (7-10-17).

An All-Northeast Second Team selection, Brown was joined by senior defenseman and two-time captain Jamie Carroll (Bridgewater, MA) on the squad. Carroll finished with a goal and 15 assists for 16 points and concluded a stellar career with five goals and 40 assists for 45 points. Carroll was instrumental in a Corsair defensive unit, which allowed only 2.68 goals per game (2nd in ECAC NE) and had an 83.6 penalty killing percentage (3rd in ECAC NE). During the Corsairs' crucial final week of the regular season, Carroll was the ECAC NE Player of the Week.

One of the biggest surprises of the season was the play of freshman goalie Kevin McGowan (Hingham, MA). Slated for backup duties at the beginning of the season, McGowan moved into the starting lineup after injuries knocked out some veterans ahead of him. McGowan made the most of his chances, appearing in 22 games and posting an 18-3 won-loss record. His .857 winning percentage was second best in the ECAC NE and his 2.35 goals against average was third. At the end of the season, McGowan was named to the All-Northeast Rookie Team in goal.