Box Score
BOSTON, Mass.—Senior goalie Brett Kilar made 44 saves, including stopping the first 42 he faced, to lead New England College to an upset 2-1 win over #12 UMass Boston men's hockey Saturday afternoon.
THE BASICS
New England College 2, #12 UMass Boston 1
(UMass Boston 8-5-2, NEHC 3-4-1)
(New England College 9-5-0, NEHC 5-3-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Pilgrims scored one goal in each of the first two periods and kept the Beacons' high-powered offense off the board for the first 58:13.
Kilar was the backbone of the Pilgrims defense, as the senior stopped 12 shots in the first, 17 more in the second and 15 in the final stanza. In his last two games against the Beacons, Kilar has gone 1-0-1 and made 99 saves on 103 shots.
Kyle Arenson and Andreas Zollner scored for the Pilgrims, who snapped a two-game losing streak to open 2017.
Freshman Ryan Cusin (Detroit, Mich.) scored the lone goal for the Beacons with just 1:47 left. The goal marked the 10th of the season for Cusin and extended his team-leading point total to 25. Junior Colin Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) picked up an assist on the Beacons' lone goal.
In net, freshman Bailey MacBurnie (Beverly, Mass.) was solid for a second-straight day. The freshman stopped 30 of 32 shots, including 10+ in the first and third stanzas.
The Pilgrims grabbed the lead 10:34 into the first stanza. Carlos Fornaris whipped a pass from the far circle to the near side to a wide-open Arnenson, who bided his time before slipping a shot through MacBurnie's five-hole.
New England College nearly doubled their lead 20 minutes later, but the referees waived off a Pilgrims goal because of a high stick. It wouldn't matter though, as Zollner made it 2-0 at 15:36. With a screener taking away MacBurnie's eyes, Zollner whipped a shot inside the near post before the Beacons netminder could even see it.
UMass Boston finally got on the board with 1:47 to play in regulation. An attempted clearance by the Pilgrims went right into Larkin's body and Larkin immediately settled the puck and sent it to Cusin who whipped in a tight-angled shot from the near side.
The Beacons had a great chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Cusin's rebound bounced over the stick of a Beacon, who was wide open with a partially open net in front of him.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston outshot New England College 45-32. The Pilgrims earned a 33-32 edge in face-offs.
- The Beacons power play continued to struggle as they finished 0-for-3. UMass Boston, who still rank as one of the top teams in the nation on the power play, are just 1-13 in their last three games.
- UMass Boston did not commit a penalty for the first time this season.
- Cusin led the Beacons with 10 shots. The freshman extended his point streak to nine in a row in the loss.
- With the win, New England College snapped a four-game winless streak against the Beacons (0-3-1) and improved to 29-15-2 all-time against UMass Boston.
- New England College had two goals waived off and hit one post.
WHO'S NEXT
#12 UMass Boston will face-off against rival Babson College on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Fenway Park. Tickets are available by calling the Fenway Box Office (877-733-7699 ) or purchasing online (http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=FENWAY6&pid=8327641&tfl=Boston_Red_Sox-Tickets-Tickets_Info_Frozen_Fenway-na-x0).
