Women’s Basketball
5-1 (0-1 LEC)
The ladies are by far the most improved Beacons squad this year. They got off to a great start by winning the UMass Boston Tip-Off Tournament, which was played at Simmons College due to finishing touches being put on the new Clark Center Gymnasium. They’ve found a way to win close games, like their opener, 66-62 in OT over Middlebury. They were also clutch against Fitchburg, whom they beat on the road, 70-67. They opened up their new, spiffy home gym with a 79-18 dismantling of Wheelock. After a slight hiccup on the road at Western Connecticut, they cruised to an easy 72-55 win at Mt. Ida. As was expected, sophomore Kirsten Morrison is leading the way with 13.5 PPG. Freshman Olivia Murphy has been a great surprise. She’s averaging a double-double with 11.7 points per game and a monstrous 12.5 rebounds per game. With only two games remaining until the winter break, the ladies are guaranteed to be above .500 going into their trip to the Key Largo Classic on Dec. 30.
Men’s Hockey
7-2-1 (3-2-1 ECAC)
This very young and inexperienced team is making a lot of noise in the ECAC. They are currently ranked 14th in the D3Hockey.com poll, their first national ranking since Coach Peter Belisle took over. They won the P.A.L. Stovepipe Classic in Hooksett, NH for the second consecutive year with an offensive explosion against Johnson and Wales, 7-4, in the semifinals and University of New England, 5-3, in the finals. Incredibly, the guys have scored four or more goals in every game this season, and three of them have scored six or more. Senior forward Mike DeGrazia is leading the way with ten goals and junior Travis Daniel isn’t far behind with eight. They headed into the winter break last weekend with a strong, 5-2 home win over Southern Maine. The Beacons have outscored their opponents 51-35 through ten games and if they can keep up that kind of production, they will be hard to stop when the tournament rolls around.
Women’s Hockey
3-6-1 (3-4-1 ECAC)
The ladies have been plagued by some extremely close losses this year. On Nov. 25 they lost 4-3 in OT against Colby, and on the 30th they lost 4-3 at home against Castleton. Had those two gone the other way they’d be close to .500 going into the winter break. They won big on Dec. 4with a 4-0 trouncing of New England College that featured two goals from Sarahanne Cavolo. Alli Greenberg and Kayla Kiernan are leading the way offensively with five and four goals, respectively. There is still plenty of time for the ladies to turn this around, and if they can start winning the close games, they have a great shot at doing well in the conference tournament.