The UMass Boston men’s hockey team hit the road for two consecutive matches against the Albertus Magnus Falcons on Feb. 14th and 15th, leading to two successful weekend wins for the Beacons.
The first match resulted in a 3-2 win for UMass Boston. Albertus Magnus was off to a hot early start in the first period, opening the scoring, but the Beacons were quick to respond. Just before the period ended they came away with a goal of their own. This was netted by freshman Jacob Roberson, assisted by sophomore Jakob Teply and senior Ryan Leonard. The second period gave the Beacons a 2-1 lead over the Falcons as sophomore Jack Mortson, assisted by junior Tyler Drummond and senior Evan Goggins scored their second, and one of his own. This proved to be a short-lived celebration for the Beacons as the Falcons evened the score just two minutes later to a 2-2 score.
The third period proved to be a challenge for anyone to score as the goalkeepers of both the teams were determined to keep the pucks out. Senior goalkeeper Tyler Bost was a steel wall as he reported eight saves on eight shots in the third period. His goalkeeping has been critical for their wins this season.
As the game was tied, they went into overtime. This did not last long enough for the Falcons as they saw a classic Michael Krupinski goal, assisted by Mortson and junior Jude Kurtas. This gave the Beacons a 3-2 win over the Falcons.
The second match ended no different, with a 5-3 win in the Beacons’ name. The game started with the Falcons scoring first, once again. But senior captain Koyle Bankauskas responded with a goal of his own shortly after. Sophomore Chris Merryman secured the Beacons 2-1 lead by finding the back of the net minutes before the first period ended.
The start of the second period saw the Falcons worming their way to a 3-2 lead as they snook two shots by Beacons goaltender Tyler Bost. At the start of the third period Teply went in solo and netted a goal of his to level the ice against the opponent. Mortson scored the game winner after redirecting a shot from Goggins. This gave the Beacons a 4-3 lead. Finally, Kurtas secured the Beacons win in the final minutes of the game, ending with a 5-3 win.
Jakob Teply, a sophomore from Stamford, Connecticut, scored the game tying goal on the 15th. The Beacons then rallied, won, and took home two must-needed wins on the road.Teply, after the game commented: “It was a hard-fought game, we needed those two wins over the weekend and we did. We got to come out hard this weekend and get these wins and work our way in the playoffs and go from there.” When asked about his growth over the season, he responded, “for me it took some adjusting to play at the collegiate level.”
Teply has been a force to be reckoned with on the ice, with his direct and at times aggressive pursuit of the puck, and body, has helped keep the opponents on thin ice.
Sophomore Chris Reppmann, after the game, said, “the season could be going better, we are not where we want to be. But I like our group, we beat a lot of good teams this season. We are taking the right steps.”
This season the Beacons are capitalizing on their strengths under the leadership of coach Belisle.The team has taken on and won against some really tough opponents. They are fast, aggressive and have improved immensely on the offensive front with Bost standing tall in net.
