The UMass Boston women’s hockey team suffered a pair of disappointing setbacks playing in the 15th annual Codfish Bowl of the best Division III women’s hockey teams. The team was shut out by Colby College on Nov. 26, and again by fifth ranked Nazareth College in the following day’s consolation game. The back-to-back losses dropped the Beacons to 4–5–0 for the season.
In the first game of the tournament, the Beacons were just about run off their own ice at Edward T. Barry Arena on campus, getting outshot 41–15. (1) Colby College almost immediately set the tone, as Mules’ forward Beth Sinson controlled a rebound by her linemate, Stephanie Lane, and fired it past UMass Boston goaltender Victoria Kennedy to give Colby a 1-0 lead.
Already reeling early, the Beacons almost fell behind 2–0 when Mules’ forward Jillian Mazzocca got on a breakaway. However, Kennedy made a beautiful sprawling save to force Mazzocca wide, and the puck ended up deflecting off the post and wide of the net. Kennedy made a valiant effort for most of the game to keep the Beacons in it, but Colby pulled away with a couple of goals late in the third period.
Mules’ defender Jo Tattersall and forward McKinley Karpa would net the late tallies to seal it for Colby College. While the Mules advanced to the Codfish Bowl’s championship game, the Beacons had to settle for the consolation game. They would drop that one as well. Facing a formidable opponent in the Golden Flyers, the nation’s fifth-best women’s Division III team, the Beacons fell by a score of 4–2. (2)
Despite getting out to an early 2–1 lead on goals from sophomore forward Ana Gustafson and defender Margeaux Butters, the Beacons gave up three unanswered goals to lose 4–2. The Beacons were again outshot by a staggering margin, 21–12 in total attempts and 14–7 in shots that made it to the net. The Beacons had an early chance denied by the Golden Flyers, as freshman forward Sydney Leonard was stopped at point-blank range by Nazareth’s goaltender, McKinley Hoff.
The Beacons got out to an early 1–0 lead on a goal from Gustafson. This happened after Leonard won an offensive-zone faceoff and the puck went right to Gustafson, who ripped it past Hoff for the game’s first tally. Nazareth answered just a few moments later when forward Abbey Luth was able to get past defenders Mia Boyd and Abbie Budington, and sent the puck past Kennedy to tie the game at one apiece.
However, the Beacons responded during their power play at the end of the first period. Junior forward Katie Wilbert won another offensive-zone faceoff, and kicked the puck out to Butters. Butters shot it past Hoff for a 2–1 advantage heading into the second period.
Halfway through the second, the Golden Flyers tied the game at two on a tic-tac-toe play by defenders Audrey Donahue and Julia Holmes, the latter of whom sprung forward Nikolle Van Stralen for a one-time chance that she sent past Kennedy to even the game up.
Nazareth later took a lead that they would not relinquish. With five minutes to go in the second period, on another well executed series of passes, defender Ivey Lyden hit forward Ally Watrous, who then set up linemate Makenna Wiljanen on a shorthanded breakaway. The goal gave the Golden Flyers a 3–2 advantage heading into the final 20 minutes.
Nazareth snuffed out any chance of a Beacon comeback when defender Morgan Leuenberger added an empty-netter in the final minutes. UMass Boston could not solve Hoff, who stood strong in net and gave her Golden Flyers the 4–2 victory. An interesting anecdote is that it was the first time UMass Boston and Nazareth College met in their program’s respective histories.
UMass Boston now needs to head into their break and come back out refreshed if they want to improve their game and shot output. Being outshot 41–15 is no simple task, and if the Beacons want to make a run in the NEHC tournament, they must focus on creating a better offensive presence. If anything, the break can help UMass Boston exorcise their demons and ultimately get back on track for the second half of the season.

1.     http://beaconsathletics.com/news/2022/11/26/womens-ice-hockey-blanked-by-colby-college-in-15th-annual-codfish-bowl-opener.aspx
2.     http://beaconsathletics.com/news/2022/11/27/womens-ice-hockey-unable-to-get-past-no-5-nazareth-college-in-codfish-bowl-consolation-game.aspx
3.     http://beaconsathletics.com/sports/womens-ice-hockey/schedule?path=whockey