Box Score SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt.—#8/9 UMass Boston Men's Hockey scored three goals in the first 13:14 and cruised to a 5-1 victory for the program's 400th win in program history.
THE BASICS
#8/9 UMass Boston 5, Saint Michael's College 1
(UMass Boston 17-3-2, New England Hockey Conference 13-1-1)
(Saint Michael's College 6-15-0, New England Hockey Conference 3-12-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After sitting on a bus for six hours, the Beacons showed no ill effects, as they scored three first period goals and added one more in the second and the third for the 5-1 win.
With the win, UMass Boston men's hockey improved to 400-467-19 (.462 winning percentage) in the program's 36-year history. The Beacons are only the second program to reach 400 wins at UMass Boston, joining UMass Boston Baseball (424).
Senior Matt Lemire (Townsend, Mass.) paced the offense for the Beacons, as the conference's leading point scorer found the back of the net twice. With the two goals, Lemire moved into a tie with fellow senior Frankie DeAugustine (Pittsburgh, Pa.) for the team lead with his 12 goals.
Mike Miller (Wrentham, Mass.), Zach Lindsay (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) and Garrett Gallagher (Aston, Pa.) also found of the net for the Beacons, who extended their unbeaten streak to nine in a row against the Purple Knights (8-0-1).
In net, senior goalie Zach Andrews (Coral Springs, Fla.) was perfect for the first 55 minutes, before allowing Saint Michael's lone goal with 3:01 remaining. Andrews finished the contest with 17 saves. In two games against the Purple Knights this year, Andrews made 38 saves on 39 shots.
Brodie McCusker scored an extra-attacker goal for the Purple Knights with three minutes left, to help Saint Michael's avoid their fourth shutout loss of the year.
Freshman Chris Johnson took the loss after allowing three goals on 19 shots in the opening 20 minutes. Senior Michael Comitini came on in relief for the final two periods and allowed one goal on 41 shots.
It took the Beacons just 2:06 to open the scoring, as Lindsay took a one-time pass from Jeremy Finger (Orlando, Fla.) and tipped it home stick side for a 1-0 lead. Freshman Drew Gannon (Plano, Texas) also picked up an assist on the play.
Miller made it 2-0 at 8:13, when the senior's slapper from the top of the circle slipped through Johnson's five-hole. The goal marked the senior's third-consecutive game-winning goal and fourth of the season.
UMass Boston scored their third goal in 14 minutes at 13:14, when Lemire dinged the bottom of the crossbar with a backhander that beat Johnson short-side. Seniors Derek Colucci (North Scituate, R.I.) and DeAugustine registered assists on the play.
Lemire recorded the lone goal of the second period at 15:07, thanks to a strong forecheck. The Beacons forced a defensive zone turnover and Lemire beat Comitini with a wrist shot just over the glove for a 4-0 lead.
McCusker broke the shutout at 16:59 of the third period, when he took passes from Stephen Inman and Kevin Altidor and wristed a shot past Andrews from the slot.
Gallagher pushed the lead right back to four goals 1:21 later, when he sent a shot from his own blue line into the Purple Knight's empty net for his first collegiate goal.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston finished with their second-most shots of the season with 61. They earned a 61-18 shot advantage, as they recorded at least 19 shots in all three periods.
- The Beacons have now recorded five goals in four-straight games. On the season, UMass Boston has now scored five or more goals in 11 of their 21 contests.
- With the win, Andrews improved to 7-0-0 on the season and 44-12-3 for his career. The senior goalie's 2.18 goals against average would be a new career-high.
- UMass Boston extended their all-time lead over the Purple Knights to 16-7-2 with the victory.
- Coupled with Norwich's 5-1 win over #6/7 Babson College, UMass Boston now sits four points clear of the Beavers with three games left in the regular season.
WHO'S NEXT
#8/9 UMass Boston will close out the road portion of their New England Hockey Conference schedule on Saturday, when they travel to take on Norwich University at 4 p.m.
