BOSTON, Mass.—#2/2 UMass Boston men's hockey broke open their New England Hockey Conference opener with five goals in less than 10 minutes of the second period, to run away from Castleton University 7-1 Friday night. 

THE BASICS

#2/2 UMass Boston 7, Castleton University 1

(UMass Boston 3-0-0, NEHC 1-0-0)

(Castleton University 2-2-1, NEHC 1-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Junior Colin Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) recorded his first collegiate hat trick and Gabe Chuckran (Media, Pa.) and Nolan Redler (Winchester, Mass.) both scored their first collegiate goals, as the Beacons routed Castleton University in their NEHC opener.

Larkin scored the opening goal and then tacked on two of the Beacons' five goals during the final 9:18 of the second period, that blew a 1-0 game wide open.

Seniors Albee Daley (Averill Park, N.Y.) and Zach Lindsay (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) also found the back of the net in the victory. Daley added a team-high three assists, while Chuckran tacked on an assist for a two-point night.

Freshman netminder Jordan Bustard (Flanders, N.J.) was huge in keeping the Spartans off the board through the first two periods. The freshman helped the Beacons hold the visitors to an 0-for-5 showing on the power-play in the first two periods and ended the night with 17 saves on 18 shots.

Castleton's Bart Moran scored 38 seconds into the third period to break up Bustard's shutout bid.

In net for the Spartans, Ryan Mulder made 15 saves on 20 shots, before being replaced by Brody Wagner. Wagner tacked on 13 saves on 15 shots.

Larkin opened the scoring at 16:52 off a terrific centering feed from Daley. With the Beacons on the power-play for the second time, Daley backhanded a feed in front to Larkin, who fired high for a 1-0 lead.

Castleton would begin to turn the momentum and created numerous chances on their three power-plays in the opening 10 minutes of the second period.

Bustard turned the tide on a Spartans 5-on-3, when the freshman denied a point-blank chance to keep the score 1-0.

Larkin changed the game for good at 10:42. The junior rifled a high shot blocker side to make it 2-0 and start the run of five goals in 9:18.

Chuckran pushed the lead to 3-0 at 13:41, off a scramble out in front on the power-play. Lindsay brought the puck into the zone and lost the puck in a scrum. The puck slid back towards the blue line, where an on-rushing Chuckran sent a canon through traffic for his first collegiate goal.

Just 16 seconds later with the Beacons on another power-play, Larkin went top shelf for a third time to complete his first collegiate hat trick in his 61^st collegiate game.

Castleton was finally forced to pull Mulder after the Beacons fifth goal of the night. Cody Wickline (Flower Mound, Texas) sent a dump in on net from distance, that bounced away from Mulder and left him out of position. Redler swooped in and poked it home for a 5-0 lead at 14:36.

Daley opened the Beacons tab against Wagner at 18:35 of the period. Wagner made a great initial save on Larkin, but the puck fell right to Daley who rammed the rebound home.

After Moran opened the scoring in the third at 38 seconds of the third, Lindsay scored the Beacons' seventh and final tally of the night with a power-play goal at 7:33.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston doubled up the Spartans in shots (36-18) and won 33 of 57 face-offs.
• The Beacons ended the night with an impressive 5-for-10 showing on the power-play, while holding Castleton to an 0-for-6 night.
• Tyler Bishop (Ramsey, N.J.) had two assists for a third-straight game to start the season.
• Brett Mason (Rowley, Mass.), Ryan Cusin (Detroit, Mich.), Josh Haverstrom (Tampa, Fla.) and John Regnart (Anchorage, Alaska) also added assists in the win.
• The Beacons earned their sixth-straight win over the Spartans and improved to 10-7-2 all-time against Castleton.

WHO'S NEXT

#2/2 UMass Boston will take Skidmore College on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The Beacons will be hosting the Alumni Day on Saturday, with an Alumni Game in the morning.