What a hockey game this was. Right from the get go, both teams were extremely physical, which made this a very interesting game to watch. The Lady Beacons were very impressive the entire game. A very pleased and happy Coach Crowell told the Mass Media after the game that she was most impressed with “the ability to put together a good 60 minutes of hockey, something we have struggled to do the last couple of games.” There was not a weak link in the lineup and Crowell was excited to be the coach of a team that plays like that.The physicality of this game was uncharacteristic of the way the Beacons usually play. Coming into the game, the Lady Beacons were last in the league in penalty minutes. However, for some reason, every time Southern Maine is on the opposite bench, something changes. ” Southern Maine gets under our skin and plays very tough, sometimes borderline dirty'” Coach Crowell explained, With this being a one game playoff, the Lady Beacons were obviously going to match their feistiness. “I’m never going to say tone it down, this just usually is not our type of game. This is women’s hockey and we are always up for the challenge. Pretty proud though that we killed off 100% of the penalties,” Crowell went on to say.Probably the only thing the Lady Beacons struggled on the entire game was the two-man advantage. At two points during the game, UMass had a five-on-three advantage and could not capitalize on both. “Five-on-three is almost double the pressure. Psychologically it gets in your head. May not work as hard or over think it or whatever the case may be. We are a lot more comfortable with the five-on-four,” said Crowell. Clearly that was the case. UMass scored one of their six goals on the power play, with the goal coming from Katie Kirwan in the third period on a very nice pass from Kristen Smith. Kirwan herself had three points on the game, with the other two points coming on assists. During the first period, the Lady Beacons jumped out to a 2-1 lead. After Southern Maine got on the board, Maria Nasta tallied a goal to make it 3-2. A few minutes later, Southern Maine scored. It was at this point that the Lady Beacons made sure Southern Maine was not getting back in the game. Veteran goalie Leah Hallett and Nasta, a star in her own right, made sure to close the door. With the score 3-2 UMass after one, those two really made it a point to pick up the rest of the team. “Nasta stood out and really stepped up her game,” Said Çrowell of her dynamic forward. Nasta had a hat trick as well as an assist to bolster the offense. “Leah made some unbelievable saves. I’m pretty proud of how both of them responded. Again, they are just two players out of a whole roster. It takes an entire team to be successful,” Crowell went on to comment.With a 6-2 win in the books, and goals also scored by Alli Greenberg and Rachel Sousa, the Lady Beacons appear to be playing the type of hockey that got them eight wins in a row.Their next game is on March 6th, in Rye, NY against a very tough but beatable Norwich team. So going into that game, is there anything Coach Crowell is worried about? “If we’re back checking as hard as we’re fore checking, we can beat anybody. The main thing is that we need a tighter defensive zone, to get that puck deep and over the red zone. Besides that I am very happy with where we’re at.”All that is left to say is good luck to the Lady Beacons with their game on Saturday against Norwich. Maybe now the school will realize how good these ladies are. The road to the NCAA tournament is becoming clearer and the Beacons are approaching the Big Dance.