BOSTON, Mass.—UMass Boston men's hockey exploded for four goals in an 11:36 span of the second period, to earn a 5-2 conference win over New England College on Friday night at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink. 

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 5, New England College 2
(UMass Boston 10-5-1, New England Hockey Conference 6-2-1) 
(New England College 7-5-1, New England Hockey Conference 2-5-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Ethan Nitkin (Miami Beach, Fla.) and Corey Clifton (Matawan, N.J.) each scored twice for the Beacons who picked up their fourth-consecutive win. 
 
Owen Bourdow (Saginaw, Mich.) tacked on the opening goal in the victory. 
 
In net, senior Sam Best (Woburn, Mass.) made 28 saves on 30 shots to pick up eighth victory of the season. Best set the program record for longest scoreless streak three minutes into the contest and saw his streak stretch all the way to 215:31 before the Pilgrims scored. 
 
Hunter Hall and Connor Dunn each scored for the Pilgrims, who saw their winless streak in conference play reach five games (0-4-1). 
 
Pilgrims senior goalie Andrew Kormos stopped 45 of 47 shots in the loss. The senior posted at least 13 saves in all three periods. 
 
Neither team could gain any momentum in a scoreless first period, with the Beacons earning a slim 14-11 advantage in shots. 
 
Bourdow, who was making his return to the lineup, opened the scoring at 4:08 off a feed from Nolan Barrett (Wayne, N.J.).
 
The Beacons doubled their advantage less than a minute later, when Nitkin scored off passes from Jeffrey Skinner (Katy, Texas) and Andrew Walker (Detroit, Mich.) at 4:59. 
 
Clifton made it 3-0 at 8:54 and the Beacons added a power-play goal from Nitkin at 15:44 to push their lead to four. 
 
New England College answered back right away, as Hunter Hall scored on a breakaway at 16:04 to snap Best's scoreless streak. The goal was the first goal Best has allowed in almost 11 periods of hockey. 
 
The Pilgrims put the pressure on the Beacons at 7:18 of the third period, when Dunn's shot from the point slipped through as Best was fighting through traffic. 
Clifton put the game away at 19:52 with an empty-net goal. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston outshot the Pilgrims 49-30 and the two teams ended up tied 38-38 in face-offs. 
• With the win, UMass Boston swept the season-series with the Pilgrims. The Beacons improved to 22-34-2 all-time against New England College. 
• UMass Boston went 1-6 on the power-play and held the Pilgrims to an 0-6 mark. 
• Nitkin has now scored goals in four-straight games and points in his last six. The senior has posted seven goals and five assists over his past six contests. 
• The Beacons moved into sole possession of second-place (19 points) in the NEHC standings with the victory. UMass Boston sits just one point behind first-place Hobart College (20 points) and has a three-point cushion on third-place Elmira College, Skidmore College and Norwich University.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
UMass Boston will host #11 Norwich University on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a key NEHC tilt.