With the semester coming to a close that means that the winter sports season will be put on hold until after the holiday season. Both the UMass Boston men and women’s hockey seasons will be kicked up a notch after the holidays which means wins will come at a premium as conference standings will become more important as the season comes closer to its end. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the past week for UMass Boston hockey and how they look going into the winter break.
Men’s hockey
This past week, the UMass Boston Beacons faced off against a really good Plymouth State University team. UMass Boston struck first with a first period goal from Ryan Bogan and carried that 1–0 lead into the first intermission. However, Plymouth State responded in the second period to tie the game and then again early in the third period to take a 2–1 lead. Plymouth State then buried two empty net goals to take home a 4–1 victory.
With that loss, UMass Boston will enter winter break with a 6–5–1 overall record and a 3–2–1 conference record. With that record the Beacons are currently tied with Elmira College in fourth place in the New England Hockey Conference. 
Up next for the men’s team will be the Codfish Bowl tournament which will begin on Dec. 29 against the University of Rhode Island. They will not play another conference game until they face off against Skidmore College on Jan. 7. Skidmore College is currently a half game behind UMass Boston in the conference standings at 3–3–1. This game should serve as a solid challenge for the Beacons as they gave the first place Hobart College a run for their money last week in a 4–3 loss. The Beacons will need to bring their A-game if they are going to beat Skidmore College.
Women’s hockey
The women’s hockey team was supposed to have two games this past week, but their game against Middlebury College was canceled due to an issue with COVID-19 on the Middlebury College campus. However, they did still play Connecticut College on Dec. 7. That game started with Connecticut College grabbing the first two goals of the game. However, goals from Kelsey Ryan and Katie Wilbert in the second period gave the Beacons momentum going into the third period. Unfortunately, the Beacons could not build off of that momentum as Connecticut College scored the lone goal in the third period, giving them the 3–2 victory over the Beacons.
That loss from the Beacons puts them at 4–6 overall on the season. They still currently have a 3–3 record in the conference, which is good enough to slot them in tied for fifth place. 
Up next for the Beacons will be Amherst College on Jan. 2. Their next conference matchup won’t be until they play Plymouth State on Jan. 7. Plymouth State has been lackluster this season, to say the least, as they currently hold a 4–6–1 overall record and a 2–4 conference record. I expect the Beacons to come out with a victory as they begin to climb the conference standings.
Although neither the men and women’s team has been perfect to start the season, there are still 14 regular season games remaining for both teams to get hot and rack up some wins. More importantly, there are still 12 conference matchups remaining for both the men and women’s teams to climb up the standings before the NEHC tournament begins in February.