It was a relatively uneventful week for both the men and women’s hockey teams at UMass Boston as both teams only played a combined three games since last Saturday. With winter break right around the corner, having a couple games before that break could be vital to staying fresh for when the schedule really ramps up in 2022. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at how the Beacons have fared in the past week and what is coming in between now and winter break.
First off, I am going to start with the UMass Boston women’s hockey team. This week has been boring, to say the least, for the women’s team as they haven’t played since last Sunday when they faced off against Bowdoin College in the Codfish Bowl Tournament. In this game, Bowdoin College came out firing on all cylinders as they scored twice in the first three minutes of the first period. Another quick goal came early in the second period as Bowdoin College extended the lead to 3–0. However, the Beacons stormed back with two unanswered goals from Ana Gustafson and Hannah MacDougal. Their late comeback efforts would come just short as Bowdoin College would bury the empty netter to put the game to bed.
The women’s hockey team will have a much busier week this week when they face Connecticut College on Tuesday and Middlebury College on Friday. Connecticut College has had a very subpar season thus far as they are just 1–4–1 on the season. I expect the Beacons to come out strong against Connecticut College and grab a win. Middlebury College has been nothing short of dominant. They are 7–0 on the season and are the top team in their conference. However, four of their seven wins have been just one goal victories, which proves two things. One, that they are really good defensively, and two, they haven’t beaten a team with a high-powered offense. The Beacons will look to hand them their first loss of the season on Friday. Both of these contests will be interconference matchups, so they will not affect UMass Boston’s position in the NEHC standings in any way. However, both of these games will be vital to shake off that loss and go into winter break with some momentum.
UMass Boston’s men’s hockey team had a bit more of an eventful week as they played two games since last Saturday. Although still far apart, they at least played a couple games in the past seven days. Last Saturday, the Beacons faced off against Amherst College and came out firing. The Beacons scored four unanswered goals to start out the game and then Amherst got on the board in the final period of play giving UMass Boston the 4–1 victory. This previous Saturday, the Beacons matched up against Anna Maria College. Corey Clifton scored 15 minutes and 51 seconds into the first period, however Anna Maria tied it up early in the second period. Chris Peters and Ethan Nitkin would score two goals to end the game at 3–1 in favor of the Beacons.
Next up for the men’s team will be Plymouth State University on Tuesday. Plymouth State has been dominant this season as they currently sit at 7–1–1 on the season. A win here could give the Beacons a massive momentum boost going into a three-week break. UMass Boston will need to bring their A-game if they are going to take down Plymouth State.