A disappointing season for the men’s hockey team was made a little brighter as the Beacons had an outstanding weekend, securing a 3-3 tie with Connecticut College last Friday and coming up with an offensive outburst and a 7-4 victory against Tufts the next night. The win and tie improved the team’s record to 3-15-2, and 2-11-2 in ECAC East action.

The tie game did not come without moments of suspense, disappointment, and changes of fortune. After a scoreless first period for both teams, Connecticut College scored two power play goals. It seemed that the Beacons were going to go into the third period down by two, but, while having a two man advantage on the power play, UMB freshman Mike Mantenuto scored with one second remaining in the period.

UMB Mike Ciarletta’s power play goal tied the game early on in the third. The game seemed destined for overtime, but Connecticut College scored with a little less than three minutes left to play. But freshman Mikey O’Sullivan tied the game with 54 seconds left on the clock for the final goal of the game. Goaltender Craig Paster of UMB came up with a huge game, registering 55 saves.

The UMB’s contest with Tufts had its share of ups and downs as well. The Beacons grabbed an early first period lead when Casey Reasonover connected on the power play. With the game tied at 1, UMB retook the lead when Mike Manatenuto, on the way to a huge night, got the puck past Tufts’s goaltender Ben Crapser while the Beacons were shorthanded. Freshman Steve Cappellini extended the Beacon lead to 3-1 on a power play.

However, the two goal lead for UMB soon evaporated as Tufts scored two goals before the end of the second period. Tufts took its first lead of the night in the third with barely two minutes elapsed. Julian Gianantonio came back on the power play to retie the game. That’s when Mike Mantenuto took over as he scored a natural hat trick in a span of 8:10, for total of four goals in the game. UMB Goaltender Dan McGonigle kept Tufts from scoring again, notching 28 saves for the game.