The cold winter of the men’s ice hockey season continued last weekend as the Beacons lost twice, a 5-2 contest against Williams College and a 9-2 game against Middlebury College. The losses dropped the team’s record to 2-16.

The Beacons could not muster many shots on the opposition’s goaltender, registering a total of 13 and 15 in the two games. On the flip side, UMB goaltenders faced 41 and 42 shots.

The Ephs of Williams College had a 3-0 lead early on in the second period. A penalty, however, led to a Patrick Donlan power play goal. It was Donlan’s team-leading ninth goal of the year. Stephen Chin and Steve Kelleher had the assists.

Shortly after Steve Lunau of Williams scored the first of his two goals in the opening minutes of the third period, Michael Ciarletta cut the Williams lead back to two goals. The Beacons’ goal once again came on the power play.

That would be it in the scoring department for UMB. Lunau’s second goal two minutes after Ciarletta’s gave the Ephs the cushion they needed for a comfortable win.

The Middlebury game proved to be a difficult matchup for the Beacons, which came as no surprise. Middlebury came into the game ranked as the third best team in the nation, according to the USCHO.com poll.

The Ephs Kevin Cooper tallied a hat trick while teammates Adam Foote and John Dawson each had a pair of goals. Dan Costa and Ciarletta scored for the Beacons.

It was a respectable two-goal deficit for UMB after one period of play. Dan Costa brightened things up for the Beacons even more after he scored his third goal of the year 3:51 in the second period.

Then things got bad. Middlebury scored four times in a little more than six minutes, dashing any of the Beacons’ hope for an upset. Ciarletta scored a two-man advantage late in the second period as he scooped a rebound off a Brian Sullivan shot from the point. The Middlebury lead increased to 6-2, but the Panthers recorded three goals in the final period.

The Beacons will be in action this weekend when they play on the road first against Tufts University and then the following day at Connecticut College.

The team is still looking to give interim coach Michael Bertoni his first win.