by Jim Mullins
Assistant Director
Sports Information

Corsairs fall one goal short of capturing 1999 ECAC Northeast championship

(Dartmouth, MA) -- UMass Dartmouth's ice hockey team enjoyed another outstanding season, finishing 20-5-3 overall and earning the #1 seed in the 1999 ECAC Northeast championships with a 14-1-2 league mark. A 5-3 quarterfinal over Johnson and Wales and a 4-0 semi-final win over New Hampshire College set the stage for another showdown with Fitchburg State College for the ECAC Northeast Championship.

In the title game, played March 10 in front of a standing-room only crowd at Hetland Area, UMass Dartmouth and Fitchburg State needed overtime for a fifth straight game, the third this season, to determine a winner in the ECAC Northeast championship game. In the end it was the second-seeded Falcons who prevailed to win the title by scoring a power-play goal at 19:49 of the first overtime period for a 3-2 victory.

Senior Jamie DiBona (Weymouth, MA) capped his senior season by being named the ECAC/CCM Player of the Year and an ECAC Northeast First Team All-Star at the end of the regular season. He was also an All-Tournament Team selection as well. Joining DiBona on the All-Tournament Team was senior captain Jon Ruel (Mattapoisett, MA), who was also an ECAC Northeast First Team selection on defense. Junior Jim Egan (Billerica, MA) and junior goalie Louis Weimann (Burlington, VT) picked up Honorable Mention on the ECAC Northeast All-League squad. UMass Dartmouth placed three players on the Division III New England Hockey Writers All-Star team, including DiBona, Ruel and Weimann.

In his final season with the Corsairs, DiBona led UMass Dartmouth in scoring with 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points. DiBona finished sixth overall in the ECAC North in scoring and ranked 17th in Division III nationally with a 1.86 points per game average. DiBona was also among the national leaders in goals per game (16th, 0.89) and tied for fourth in short-handed goals with four.

With 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points, Egan was the Corsairs' second-leading scorer followed by sophomore Shawn Alles (Brockton, MA) (17-22-39). Within the ECAC Northeast, Alles finished 15th overall in scoring. Among the Corsairs' other top scorers for the 1998-99 season were freshman Tom Brown (Framingham, MA)(14-19-33), freshman Chris Carboneau (Falmouth, MA) (6-19-25), junior Chris O'Reilly (Belmont, MA) (11-12-23) and Ruel (4-18-23).

As a team, UMass Dartmouth was third best in the ECAC Northeast in scoring and 11th nationally, averaging 4.79 goals per game. Ranked 13th in scoring defense, allowing 2.93 goals per game (second best in ECAC Northeast), UMass Dartmouth had a scoring margin of 1.86 goals per game, 11th best in the nation. The Corsairs possessed the second best power play in the league and fifth best nationally, connecting on 32% of their chances.

There were two key reasons why the Corsairs were among the top defensive teams in both the ECAC Northeast and all of Division III - the goaltending tandem of Weimann and junior Ryan Sloper (Billerica, MA). Weimann finished the season with a 10-3 overall record, two shutouts, a 2.17 goals against average and a .929 saves percentage. Sloper's numbers almost matched Weimann's. Sloper was 10-2-3 overall with one shutout, a 3.57 goals against average and a .888 saves percentage.

Weimann and Sloper finished in the top four of the three main goaltender statistical categories within the ECAC Northeast for the 1998-99 season. In saves percentage, Weimann was first at .922 and Sloper was fourth at .905. Weimann topped the league in goals against average at 1.89 and Sloper was third at 2.48. In winning percentage, Weimann was second at 9-1 (.900), while Sloper was fourth at 5-0-2 (.857). Weiman's overall goals against average ranked him fourth in Division III.

Despite falling short of the league championship by one goal, the Corsairs had an outstanding season under Coach John Rolli, who at the end of the season was named one of 12 finalists for the 1999 Eddie Jeremiah Award given annually to the College Division Coach of the Year. The 1998-99 season also produced a personal milestone for Rolli, as he collected his 300th career victory in an 11-4 win over Salve Regina on Jan. 13. Rolli's career record at UMass Dartmouth is 313-67-10.