Minuteman Flames in the News

MetroWest Daily News - Sports Section, March 17, 2004

Oh, brother

"I hated hockey," says Mike Warner, but when he found out he could fire pucks at his brother in the cellar of their Waltham home, the sport began to grow on him. "That's how he became a goalie," says Warner.

Warner, a senior, has five goals and five assists for UMass. He never attended Waltham High, instead dividing his time between Arlington Catholic and Avon Old Farms. His last year at Avon coincided with Cahoon's first at UMass. Cahoon wasted no time putting a team together.

"He called me a couple of days later, then I visited the school," says Warner. "It all happened so fast. But I was real comfortable (at UMass) right from the beginning."

The connector was UMass assistant coach Mark Dennehy. When he was Fairfield's head coach, he recruited Warner.

And whatever happened to Warner's younger brother, Tim, who he used to fire away at in the basement? He's the UMass backup goalie. During practices and warm-ups, "we still have a lot of fun," says Mike. "If he stops me he gives me a hard time. If I score on him I give him a hard time."

Tim, however, stepped between the pipes during the Hockey East quarterfinals and stonewalled UMass-Lowell twice, making 39 saves in a 6-3 win and posting a 3-1 win in the clincher.

"It was a breakout week for him," says Cahoon.

Mike Warner was basically a walk-on who has earned a partial scholarship. "He was either coming here or going to Maine or Vermont," says Cahoon. "I'm delighted it was here. Mike's overachieved. He's probably our best penalty killer."