ORONO — Steven Swavely is the captain of a Maine hockey team that has been shut out in back-to-back games and has yet to record a victory.
The senior center knows that only five games into his tenure, he’s facing the biggest test of his leadership as the Black Bears (0-2-3) prepare to face UMass at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the opening game of the Capital City Classic in Trenton, New Jersey. Maine will face Yale or Princeton on Saturday.
UP NEXT
WHAT: Capital City Classic at Trenton, New Jersey.
WHEN: Friday and Saturday
MATCHUPS: UMass vs. Maine (4:30 p.m.); Yale vs. Princeton (7:30 p.m.) Friday.
NOTE: Winners and losers play Saturday (4:30/7:30).
“It’s easy (to lead) when you win or play well. It’s tough when you’re not playing well,” Swavely said. “It’s almost more important when you’re losing to have that strong grasp and let the team know what you expect.
“We’re keeping the attitude positive. We can’t let those two losses dictate how we’re going to play the rest of the year.”
Generating offense has been the biggest challenge for Maine, which scored three goals while tying Michigan State in the opener but has only two in the past four games.
The Black Bears have been outshot 183-128, a disparity that came to a head in the first period of the latest and more embarrassing loss, 4-0 at Quinnipiac on Oct. 20.
Maine was outshot 19-4 in the opening period.
“That’s a waste of a period for us. We didn’t get anything done. We didn’t come out with the proper focus,” Swavely said.
Swavely leads the team with 19 shots on net but has yet to record a point after picking up 28 last season. He knows he has to do his part offensively if his team is to follow suit.
“A lot of my shots have been outside or on the rush,” Swavely said. “We’re going to need to generate goals by getting traffic in front of the net or on rebounds. I just have to get to those areas first.”
Maine has surrendered only 11 goals this season but is coming off its worst showing against Quinnipiac, which outshot Maine 40-20 in a dominant performance.
Black Bear senior defenseman Conor Riley, an assistant captain, was surprised.
“They were winning every battle. They were taking it to us as far as hits and getting pucks to the net,” Riley said. “We never really had a response for them, for the first time this season.”
Riley said Maine has changed its strategy in its own end this season, to more of a swarming style that emphasizes putting bodies on opponents the second they cross the blue line in an attempt to turn pucks over faster.
“We’ve got a lot of defensemen that can skate, so it’s nice when we’re not waiting around, playing more like a zone,” Riley said.
“We need to get in and out of the corners as quick as possible, and try to get the puck up ice because, obviously right now, we need some offense and the quicker we can get out of our zone, the better chance we can get of getting some offensive time.”
Riley has been a defense-first player during his college career and also has zero points this season, but vowed to make a more concerted effort to get into the offensive flow. Maine is seeing opponents emphasize putting four or five skaters on the attack and is trying to mirror that approach, he said.
It will be crucial to be solid on both ends against the Minutemen (3-0-1), who have scored 21 goals, including five consecutive to tie New Hampshire 6-6 in their last game.
“(The Quinnipiac game) was kind of the first punch in the face for us,” Riley said. “We’ve got to respond this weekend. It’s just crucial that we’re on top of everyone and making sure that they’re ready.”
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