BOSTON, Mass.—UMass Boston men's hockey scored three unanswered goals in the second period and played an extremely sound defensive third, to earn a 3-2 win over #7 Elmira College on Friday night at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink. 
 
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 3, #7 Elmira College 2
(UMass Boston 12-7-1, New England Hockey Conference 8-4-1) 
(Elmira College 13-5-1, New England Hockey Conference 7-4-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Senior Ethan Nitkin (Miami Beach, Fla.) scored twice and freshman Devin Moran (Leominster, Mass.) added the game-winner, to help the Beacons turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead after the second. 
 
Junior goalie Sam Best (Woburn, Mass.) made 31 saves to help the Beacons earn their first win over the Soaring Eagles since 1988. 
 
Sophomores Ryan Reifler and Nicholas Domitrovic each scored for the visitors within a 2:19 span between the first and second periods. 
 
Graduate student goalie Chris Janzen made 29 saves on 32 shots to fall to 7-5-1 on the season. 
 
After both teams created some early chances, Elmira nearly took the lead 3:38 into the contest, but a Soaring Eagles goal was waived off after an elbowing penalty away from the play. 
 
Despite giving up back-to-back power plays, Elmira began to gain control of the game and created a great shorthanded chance, when Best denied Chance Gorman. 
 
The Soaring Eagles would keep control of the play for much of the period and finally went ahead at 19:06. Reifler received a pass at the near post one-on-one with Best and roofed a shot over the diving goalie to make it 1-0 Soaring Eagles. Elmira's top two scorers, Shawn Kennedy and Gorman, each picked up assists on the play. 
 
Elmira doubled their lead 1:24 into the second. After a Beacons' defenseman broke his stick at the offensive blue line, the Soaring Eagles skated in on a 2-on-0 breakaway. Best made the initial stop on Janis Vizbelis, but Domitrovic jumped on the rebound and lifted a shot over Best for a 2-0 advantage. 
 
UMass Boston began turning the tide when they earned their first power-play chance of the second period. The Beacons needed just 15 seconds to cut the deficit to one, as all five skaters touched the puck, before Nitkin scored on a one-time shot. Corey Clifton (Matawan, N.J.) and Chris Peters (Fairport, N.Y.) earned assists on the play. 
 
The Beacons tied the game at 8:22. Andy Walker (Detroit, Mich.) just barely stayed onside and found an onrushing Nolan Barrett (Wayne, N.J.). Barrett skated into the low slot and left a pass off for Nitkin who's one-time shot easily beat Janzen. 
 
UMass Boston took the lead for good at 11:41. With the Beacons back on the power-play, Ryan Bogan (Brick, N.J.) fought to keep the play alive below the goal line and Moran came over to coral the loose puck. The freshman darted to the front of the net and the puck bounced off his stick and past Janzen for a 3-2 advantage. 
 
With the Beacons leading 3-2 after two, UMass Boston aimed to keep the lead by limiting the Eagles chances and dumping the puck deep into the offensive zone. The plan worked, as Elmira had one just one good chance to tie the game. 
 
After a turnover in the offensive zone, Elmira broke out of the zone on a 2-on-1 chance. Christian Abrams skated the puck into the zone and clanged the top of the crossbar at 7:57. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Elmira earned a 33-32 edge in shots, while the Beacons claimed a 30-29 edge in face-offs. 
• With the win, UMass Boston now trails the all-time series 5-4. The Beacons had lost three-straight to Elmira and hadn't beaten the Soaring Eagles since December 28, 1988. 
• Nitkin moved into a three-way tie for first-place in the conference in goals with his two goals. His 14 goals and 26 points are both new career-highs in a season. 
• The Beacons finished 2-6 on the power-play, while Elmira ended the game 1-3. 
• With the win, UMass Boston stays in second place in the New England Hockey Conference standings with 26 points. The Beacons are just one point behind league-leader Hobart College (one-game in hand) and three points ahead of third-place Babson College who has played one more game than the Beacons. 
• Moran has now scored his first two collegiate goals in his last three games and picked up his first game-winning goal in the contest.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
UMass Boston will take on league-leader #6 Hobart College on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed due to heavy snow in the forecast.