One goal separated the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth ice hockey team from its second consecutive ECAC North-Central-South championship last season. A year later, the Corsairs return 17 letter winners and much of the offensive firepower that led Coach John Rolli's squad to a 25-2 overall record and their fourth straight ECAC Central title.

A new goalie and some roster rearranging to shore up the defense may give UMass Dartmouth a bit of a different look in the early going, but one thing shouldn't change - the Corsairs will have the ability to score plenty of goalst this season. Last year, the Corsairs led the the nation in goals with 174 in 27 games for an average of 6.44 per game.

"Early on we have to be patient defensively and hope that the goaltenders and defense matures as the season goes on," said Rolli, who is going into his 13th season (250-53-5, .819%) behind the Corsairs' bench. "We should be able to score goals, and that can carry you through the regular season. But at playoff time, the better defensive team wins when all is said and done."

The Corsairs' strength will be its forward line led by junior Jarrod DiBona (Weymouth, MA), last year's leading scorer with 25 goals and 39 assists for 64 points. DiBona, an All-ECAC Central, ECAC North/Central/South and New England Hockey Writer's All-Star, led all Division III players with 7 game-winning goals and was fifth in both points per game (2.37) and assists per game (1.44).

Adding to the UMass Dartmouth offensive attack up front will be senior captain Marc Salvi (Cheshire, MA) (23-32-55) and seniors Craig Hardy (Everett, MA) (7-13-20) and assistant captain Jeramie DiBona (Weymouth,MA), along with juniors Mike Doherty (Stoneham, MA) (13-18-31) and Brian Keaveny (West Roxbury, MA). Sophomores Mark Aguiar (Fairhaven, MA) (2-1-3), Jamie DiBona (Weymouth, MA) (5-11-16) and A.J. Carthas (Quincy, MA) (1-1-2) will also be expected to make a contribution.

Coach Rolli, who earned Coach of the Year honors from the ECAC/Koho North/Central/South and New England Hockey Writers, also expects three newcomers may crack the starting lineup up front. Freshman forward Jason Kotack (Toronto, Ontario) will be joined by former Matignon High School teammates freshmen Chris O'Reilly (Belmont, MA) and Jason Ferranti (Waltham, MA).

"We're going to score some goals early on, but we will need to see some improvements on defense as the season goes along," Rolli said.

The Corsairs' defense will mix a pair of returning veterans with a pair of converted forwards moving into new positions. Returning on defense will be assistant captain Brett Flint (Danvers, MA) (3-6-9) and junior Kayne Beaudry (Melrose, MA) (1-13-14). Jason Cormier (Waltham, MA) and Shawn Richmond (Newburyport, MA) will move from forward to defense to shore up the Corsairs' defensive alignment. Last year, Cormier was a New England Hockey Writers All Star and UMass Dartmouth's second-leading scorer with 20 goals and 35 assists for 55 points.

Rolli is also looking for some contributions from a pair of transfer students, Jon Ruel (Mattapoisett, MA) and Bobby Marrone (Winchester, MA). Ruel is a sophomore, who played at Plattsburg State last year and for Bishop Connolly (Fall River, MA) High School's Division III state championship team. Marron comes to UMass Dartmouth from Hebron Academy and Winchester High.

With goalie Shawn Grenier lost to graduation, the search for a new UMass Dartmouth net minder is underway. Sophomore Brian Glinner (Everett, MA) appeared in only three games behind Grenier last year, allowing one goal in 31 minutes of play. Rolli said competition for the starting lineup will come down to Glinner along with freshmen Louis Weimann (Burlington, VT) and Ryan Sloper (Billerica, MA). Weimann played high school at Rice Memorial in Burlington, VT and comes to UMass Dartmouth after a year at Dawson College in Montreal. Sloper is coming off a year at New Hampton Prep and played his high school hockey at Arlington Catholic.

"We will have some new players, but with returning veterans like Jarrod DiBona and Jason Cormier, who are both all-stars from last year, and several other outstanding players who have won ECAC titles in the past, its just a matter of the team developing its own identity," said Rolli.

The Corsairs' schedule for 1996-97 will provide quite a few challenges very early in season. UMass Dartmouth opens on the road at the Pepsi Invitational Tournament hosted by the State University of New York (SUNY) Potsdam. In the tournament opener, UMass Dartmouth will face Plymouth State on Friday, November 1. In the other tournament semi-final, St. Michael's of the ECAC Central will play the host team from SUNY Potsdam, one of eight NCAA Division III tournament teams last season and defending champions of the SUNY Athletic Conference. The two winners face each other in the tournament final on November 2 and the losers meet in the consolation game.

UMass Dartmouth will have a two-week respite before opening its season Saturday, November 16 with an 8 p.m. game at Curry College. The Corsairs' season opener will be a rematch of last year's ECAC North/Central/South title game when Fitchburg State College, 2-1 winners in overtime of last season's title game with UMass Dartmouth, comes to Hetland Arena for a 7:30 p.m. game on Wednesday, November 20. The ECAC Central opener is Saturday, November 23rd at Bentley College, beginning at 8 p.m.