The cold month of January saw a total of six matches from the UMass Boston’s Men’s Hockey team, two of which were Codfish tournaments against UMass Dartmouth Jan. 3, which gave the team their first 5-2 win of the year. This year’s Codfish Tournament saw much better results than last season.
The heat from that game soon died down after they went up against University of Wisconsin Jan. 4, which resulted in a 2-5 loss. The team’s next three matches did not go as planned, either, and they returned home with losses against Norwich University and Elmira College.
This changed with their Jan. 17 game against Elmira College, which resulted in a 2-1 win. Senior Kolye Bankauskas tried opening the match in the first half, but his efforts went in vain with an Eagles save. Junior Jude Kurtas was successful in carrying out his captain’s deeds, and he lit up the scoreboard with an assist from sophomore Zander Lizotte and Tyler Dummond. This resulted in a 1-0 lead for the Beacons as they entered the second half.
The second half saw the Eagles desperately try to score, and they managed to sneak the puck through senior netminder Tyler Bost at just three minutes into the game. The game saw a total of 38 saves by Bost.
The third half saw the Beacons going on a penalty purge, but senior Mike Krupunski saved the day for the Beacons with his defensive tactics. The game ended when senior Ryan Leonard scored with just 1.2 seconds remaining, marking his first goal of the season and a win for the Beacons.
After a spectacular showdown, the team again took to the ice against the Eagles the next day. This time, the Eagles came in armed.
Elmira College opened the first half with two consecutive goals against the Beacons. The Beacons found the opportunity to score in the second half as freshman Michael Lynch netted his third goal of the season. While the Beacons were struggling to find an equalizer, the Eagles raised their lead to 3-1 with just six seconds left in the period.
The third period saw one goal each from both teams. Leonard scored his second goal of the season, but the Beacons fell short, and the match ended with a 2-4 loss for the Beacons.
What started as a stellar season has slowly started to lose its momentum. Their effort has still not wavered, and thankfully, none of these matches resulted in a scoreless loss. The Beacons still have a lot of opportunities to salvage the season as January comes to an end.
