It was a huge day in the Clark Athletic Center on Saturday, March 6, as the ice rink was filled to maximum capacity for the New England Hockey Conference Championships. 8/7 ranked University of Massachusetts Boston Men’s Ice Hockey battled against their archrivals, 7/8 ranked Babson College, for the first conference title win since 1982. 
A total of about 1600 people were present in the rink, for both teams had a large fan base show up since Babson is only 30 miles away. The Beacons were not disappointed on their home turf, as this tight battle ended with a victory for UMass Boston.
Last season, UMass Boston faced Babson during playoffs and lost by one goal in overtime, so this game was highly intense as the Beacons looked for revenge. During regulation games this season, the teams split victories with Babson, first defeating the Beacons 3-2 in Clark, but UMass Boston returned the favor with a 4-1 victory at Babson’s home.
In his 10th season, Men’s Ice Hockey Head Coach, Peter Belisle, was awarded Coach of the Year and is up against Babson’s two-time Coach of the Year, Jamie Rice, in his 12th season as the Men’s Ice Hockey Head Coach.
Heading into the game, the major focuses for the Beacons were to contain Babson’s breakout, gain momentum by scoring the first goal, and being able to control their emotions. UMass Boston senior goalie, Billy Faust, had a pretty even-ability match up against Babson’s senior goalie, James Murray, and both made it extremely difficult for each team to score.
Babson scored the first goal late into the first period with 2:45 left on the clock, as sophomore Ryan Gouveia was able to shoot past Faust. With Babson up 1-0, the Beacons had to pull it together to tie up the game. 
The second period saw a lot of action as the Beacons responded to the 1-0 Babson lead with a goal by senior Andrew Crawford from Medford, Massachusetts, with 10:00 left in the period to tie it 1-1. Unfortunately, Babson was quick to react with a goal at 9:16 made by sophomore Bobby Hall to put Babson in the lead at 2-1.
At the end of the second period with UMass Boston trailing 2-1, Belisle responded going into the third quarter with, “We have to kill this off and get right back in there.” 
The Beacons continued to fight well into the third period as Faust and Murray seemed to go back and forth blocking shots from both sides. It wasn’t until 6:16 left in the third when senior Beacon, Alex Demchuck, made an unpredictable, hook-move to penetrate through Babson’s goal and force the game into overtime with a 2-2 tie.
The dogfight for the conference title increased in overtime as both teams used the last of their energy to prevail against the other. With 7:12 left on the clock, junior Colin Larkin shot past Murray for the 3-2-overtime victory for UMass Boston. After this nail-biter playoff game, the Beacons are off to the national tournament and will know their fate in the NCAA tournament selection on Monday, March 7 at 10:30 a.m.