The 2010-11 Beacons men’s hockey squad was one of the best at UMB in years, and with a huge freshman class, an improved arena, and plenty of senior experience, the guys are hoping for big things.
They have been practicing diligently for the past few weeks in anticipation of opening night against ECAC foe St. Anselm. According to head coach Peter Belisle, “They’re a very strong D2 school […] they’ve been a storied program. They’ve had hockey forever […] we’re expecting a big crowd […] I think it’s the most exciting game.”
Last year’s success, which included a home playoff game, has made Belisle optimistic about the Beacons’ chances this year. We justcame off our best regular season finish in my [three-year] tenure,” he said. “We graduated a bit of firepower in Eric Tuffman, who was a hundred point scorer for us, among others.” The team has tried to fill in the shoes left by the seniors with new recruits.
“I think on paper, this is the best freshman class that I’ve seen in my tenure., he said. “We have our first two kids ever from the [British Colombia Hockey League], one of the best junior hockey leagues in North America, and they put up good numbers in that league, so we’re looking for big things from those two.”
The recruiting class is impressive, and they’ll have plenty of veteran leadership to help them make the transition to college hockey. “We have a big senior class,” Belisle said. “For our nine seniors, in their freshman year we were an eighth seed in the tournament but we went all the way to the finals. We were one goal away from going to the NCAA tournament. They’ve had a taste of going pretty deep into the playoffs and almost winning the ECAC championship”.
Among those seniors are standout forward Anthony Fitti and skilled goaltender Kevin Bendel. “[Fitti] has looked outstanding for the first three days of practice,” Belisle said. “He has a new lease on life and I think he’ll be our top center ice man.” When asked about Bendel, he said, “He’s been battle tested. He’s looked outstanding so far as well.”
The goal for the season is to make a run in the ECAC playoffs, and the journey for the guys will start on Friday.
First Match: Nov. 4 vs. St. Anselm, 6 p.m.
Last season was a big success for the Lady Beacons as well. First year coach Colleen Harris led the team to a 14-11-1 record including a fantastic 3-2 OT win at Salve Regina in the ECAC quarterfinals. That team was shorthanded last year, but that is not the case this season. When asked whether or not she thinks the team has improved, Harris said, “I think so, we have a full squad which is a plus. We have 17 new faces. Two transfers, two walk-ons, and 13 recruits.” She added, “We graduated six kids. We only had 13 on our roster though, so we brought in pretty much a full team. They’re good kids and they’re working hard.”
The team likes to grind it out and fight for a full 60 minutes to grab the tough wins. “I think it’ll be a good year,” Harris said” “We’re a gritty team. We’re going to be the kind of team that’s a pain in the butt to everyone else.”
The ladies will be led this year by Senior goaltenders Jamie Cudmore and Leah Hallett. Their top returning scorer is junior Alli Greenberg, who scored seven goals and assisted on five more in 2010-2011. The 13 incoming freshmen on the team should make an immediate impact. Harris said, “It’ll be a bit of a learning year, but they’re catching on pretty quick so hopefully we’ll be good.”
The ladies opened their season last weekend with back-to-back matches in Harris’ hometown of Buffalo, New York against Buffalo State.
The Beacons fell short in the season opener on Oct. 28, 3-1. They followed that up with a huge 4-2 win on Oct. 29, when they scored four straight goals to come back from a 2-0 second period deficit. Sarahanne Cavalo, Emily Howard, and Emily LaRosa all scored in the third period to get the Beacons the win. Jamie Cudmore was solid in goal with 24 saves, and the ladies left Harris’ hometown at 1-1.
