A week has now passed since the end of the Lady Beacons’ season. Even though the season ended rudely at the hands of a hungry Norwich team, there is plenty of reason to think that the Queens of the Clark Center ice will be in the playoff hunt for years to come. The Lady Beacons finished the year with a 17-10-0 record, including a 13-6-0 record in conference play, after posting a 13-11-2 mark the previous year in which star goalie Leah Hallett was only in her first year of collegiate puck. This year though seemed as though it was going to be a .500 year at best as the Lady Beacons were only 1-4 through five games. After that slow start however, the team proceeded to go 16-6, including an eight game winning streak that was close to a month long.What exactly was the reason for the big turn around?   Improved play from the young squad’s freshmen was a major part of the resurgence, but Hallett’s sudden emergence as dominator between the pipes may have played the biggest role.”The biggest surprise for me this season was the outstanding play of Leah Hallett in net,” Lady Beacons head coach Maura Crowell commented. “She was good last year, but this year she was great. She won many games for us throughout the course of the season and gave us the opportunity to win nearly every game she played in. All successful hockey teams start with great goaltending and this season we had it.”It is tough to argue with the coach, considering Hallett set the UMass women’s hockey record for most saves in a season with 898. Hallett’s GAA average was an outstanding 2.86, good enough for 12th in the ECAC, where Hallett was also number five in save percentage at a solid 92.3%. The offense this year was led by senior sensation Maria “Nasty” Nasta, who in addition to leading UMass to post-season glory, set a slew of personal amrks as well, including becoming only the third women’s hockey player to ever score more than 100 points in a career.  In addition, Nasta finished top five in the conference in scoring average, overall goals, and both power play and short handed goals.  She was also nominated to participate in the Frozen Four, a skills competition that is usually reserved only for Division I players.  With Nasta wrapping up her Hall of Fame career this season, it will be up to a new crop of leaders to step in and caryy the team next season.”The whole team is aware of the offensive numbers that we lose with a player like Maria graduating,” said Crowell. “I expect all the returners to feel a sense of responsibility in making sure that we continue the success that we’ve had over the years. 2009-10 was our best year in program history but my goal is to get better every single year. We will not rest because we broke school records. We are focused on winning a championship. It’s one thing to say it and an entirely different thing to actually do it.  We will need a big season out of all the returning players. There’s a ton of talent in our locker room so I expect even more success next year.”With that being said, youngsters like Sam Phillips, Alli Greenberg, and Kelly Gillis should be able to take on bigger roles with another year of experience under their belts. Players returning for their senior seasons, including the team’s second and third leading scorers Rachel Sousa and Lauren Duran, should be more than capable of picking up the slack as well.While there are definitely things that need to be fixed during the off-season, it isn’t a very long list. Goaltending is all set, and scoring might not be as dynamic, but will be more balanced. The Lady Beacons scored 97 goals this past season and should no doubt be in the mid to high 80s, if not right at 90 again for next year. So what does Coach Crowell expect to get out of the 2010-2011 team? “We will look to improve on our strength and conditioning before next season starts.  The off-season is the best time to make strides in your game, so we will look to add muscle and quickness to the team as a whole.  Individually, the players will need to work on certain aspects of their game whether it be their stick handling or shooting skills.  Overall though, I feel that we need to get stronger to compete with the top teams in the country.  We’ve put ourselves in a great position to play with, and beat the best, now we have to be ready to do it consistently.”Crowell clearly expects big things from next year’s squad and there is no need to think that this cannot be done. Let’s not forget though, Crowell was named the ECAC Coach of the Year, a much deserving award for a coach that gets the best out of her players and has players that love playing for here. This attitude of loyalty and respect for the Coach can be seen in the constant cadre of players hanging around her office or stopping in just to talk. However, the humble coach will be the first to tell you that this award is not possible without a great group of kids to work with.”As I told the team, the Coach of the Year Award should really be called the Team of the Year Award.  I don’t win that award without the team performing like they did this year.  We had a great group of players in that locker room who played great hockey this season.  I’m really proud of them.  It’s obviously a great honor, but it should be celebrated by the players and staff just as much as me.”Despite a year of unmitigated success, it was still sad to see the season end the way it did with an 8-0 thrashing at the hands of a Norwich team that would go on to win the conference crown and be a runner up at the national tourney. However, despite not bringing home any team hardware, The Lady Beacons were a joy to watch this year, as shown by a steadily growing fan base as the season progressed. Next year should be the year UMB expects big things from this team, and with another strong recruiting class coming in, the Lady Beacons will be a team to be reckoned with for years to come.