After a not-so-flattering 2022 campaign, the Beacons are all set to dominate on the ice this season. UMass Boston Men’s Ice Hockey is ready to make a comeback, armed with dedication, determination, grit and hard work. The team is looking to make a statement and prove that they are a force to be reckoned with when battling in the rink.
When speaking to them about their expectations coming into this year, they had a lot of interesting insights to share.
“This season we are expecting to come in, be a hard-to-beat group, be hard working, keep everything simple and just out work everybody,” said forward Chris Aarons, a third-year student at UMass Boston.
The Beacons are going to be skating through the season with a new found confidence, a new assistant coach and new teammates. They are bringing with them raw talent and a winning attitude. Sam Best, a graduate student and goalie for the team, said it best:
“We just want to win, last year was obviously a disappointment. So, we are just gonna take it day by day, and try to be our best […] we have a lot of new guys—15 new players. So it’s not so much of a rebuilding. No one’s gonna expect us to do anything, but we know what we got in the locker room. We have our own goals and expectations.” The team’s not one to give up when the water gets rough, they face it head on, quite literally.
Fourth-year and forward Jacob Banks also provided his perspective.
“They are going to have a bounce back this season, a lot of new guys have joined this season,” he said. “Even a new coach has been appointed, who is going to bring a new set of skills to the otherwise perfect team.”
Head Coach Peter Belisle also provided his outlook on the upcoming year.
“The team has been tremendous, and hopefully it’s gonna affect our performance,” he said. “We have put in a lot of work in this pre-season. We have had an opportunity to skate eight times in September, and we have been on the ice for about a week and a half. There is a lot of optimism and excitement. We wanna improve upon last year. The group returners are very committed to improve upon last year, and try to win the league title.”
Coach Belisle further emphasized, “I love these kids and love our group. They are fine young men, which will translate to goals and production on the ice. We are putting the work in and hope that the fruits of our labor will help in our performance of playing good defense and scoring more goals. We have been working a lot on our goal scoring, defensive zone coverage—every aspect of the game that you can think of. We have a lot more that we have to do, a lot more fine tuning and kind of putting the pieces together for a team that can battle for the league championship.”
The Beacons have come a long way, and are better equipped for the season. They have taken the last season as a lesson, and are aware of their shortcomings. They aim to turn their weaknesses into strengths and surprise their opponents. The team is not going to rest until they bring the league title home. Coach Belisle is the backbone of the group, pushing his players to compete at the highest level in both practices and games.
The Beacons are ready to roll. There have been consistent efforts from the team to substantially improve, as they are expecting a lot from themselves this season. They have seen the lows after reaching the depths of a long, treacherous 2022, and are hoping to finally hit a high with the commencement of this upcoming year. Even though the air is cold at Barry Ice Rink, get ready because the Beacons are going to be bringing the heat.
