At the night of three-year-old-kid-high of blizzard and their hours long drive back home after game, family value of the Mainers brought a majority of 136 bystanders into the Ice Rink at Clark Athletic Center here in the Harbor. Fortunately, no single victim of traffic accidents appeared on the Sunday Globe shared a same last name with the team members. The University of Southern Maine men’s ice hockey team (8-7-2, 5-5-1), in front of its faithful fans, shredded the hosting Beacons (2-12-1, 0-9-1) by 8-0 on Saturday, January 22. Mark Carragher’s hat trick along with a couple of assists was crucial to hand UMB a three-game losing streak at home, or sixth in seven matches. The Beacons also succumbed to UMass Dartmouth by 4-2 on Tuesday and to Salem State College, 4-0, on Friday. The Beacons are, as of January 23, ranked ninth in the ten-team Eastern College Athletic Conference East, while the Huskies stand fourth.

Chris Sparkes and Erik Kent did their own parts with a two-goal performance to decorate the score. The Huskies goalie David Beckles made 32 saves in his first shut out of the season, while freshman James Johnson stopped 31 shots for the Beacons.

“Getting down by that large amount with a young team we have,” the Beacons second-year head coach Michael Bertoni said, “we really don’t have enough manpower to overcome that. I think whole game plan was insufficient. We took a step back today from progression we have made through this season. It was really a shocker.”

Carragher wasted no time to put the Huskies on board with his wrister at 6:27 in the first period when he received a feed from Marc Santuccio, moments after the first power play by the Beacons vainly ended. The number seven goal scorer in the conference about three minutes later assisted a shorthanded goal by Sparkes, 2-0.

The runaway goon didn’t refrain himself from helping the four-goal second session which practically raped the Beacons of a first victory since December 28. Carragher also scored a fast break goal at 7:12. And seven minutes later, he capped the career-best feat with an easy power play goal with Beacons freshman forward Ryan Kelleher off for roughing. Santuccio and Sparkes struck one apiece to highlight the lousy 20-minute stint for the Beacons.

Finally, UMB surged into the Huskies goal in the seventh minute of the third period. Freshman forward Dominic DiMarzo sent a shot at close range. His attempt was barely blocked by a goalie but forced him to fumble and lean badly to leave the frame wide open. But sophomore captain Steve Kelleher’s quick wrist shot toward an empty goal missed the goal by inches. “I jumped on it.” The captain commented, “I was wide open. I should have scored that.” Soon later, freshman defenseman Andrew Ward launched a strong slap shot near the blue line, only to be absorbed into the left glove of a goalie.

Erik Kent of Southern Maine scored twice in the final period. Bertoni and some players expressed after the defeat that they weren’t obviously outplayed by the visitors in a technical sense. The skipper rather attributed the big deficit to his young squad and special team which squandered 10 minutes of numerical advantage and allowed a shorthanded goal.

“[A shorthanded goal in the first period and consecutive points lost were] tough for this young team,” Bertoni said. “We have to limit those mistakes and really capitalize when we have advantages.”The Beacons are scheduled to play at Williams College on Friday, January 28, and at Middlebury the day after. They will be in action back here at UMass Boston on Friday, February 4, against Tufts University and on the following day against Connecticut College. Haloed Rink

For audiences shaken with cold by a blizzard at a single-digit temperature, the UMass Boston Department of Athletics turned on the lamps right above the middle of the bleachers during two games on weekend. Thanks to the benevolent arrangement, according to this writer, approximately 73% of spectators took their heaviest jackets off, which was record high of the season.

Another Tilt

Saturday repeatedly saw full strength melees between two teams throughout the game. As a result, referee Chris Sheoley penalized five Beacons and six Huskies; three for misconducts, one for fighting, three for hitting after the whistle, and four for roughing. UMB also had a ten-men-punished rink fight, including one game disqualification, against Salem State College the night before.