BOSTON, Mass.—Junior goalie Sam Best (Woburn, Mass.) tied the program record for consecutive shutouts and sophomore Corey Clifton (Matawan, N.J.) added a career-high three points, to lead UMass Boston men's hockey past Skidmore College 5-0 in their 2022 opener. 
 
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 5, Skidmore College 0
(UMass Boston 8-5-1, NEHC 4-2-1) 
(Skidmore College 7-6-1, 3-4-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Best stopped 35 shots in his second-consecutive and second collegiate shutout. The junior stopped at least 11 shots in all three periods to tie Kevin Bendel ('12) and Billy Faust ('16) for the program record with back-to-back shutouts.
 
Clifton provided all the offense Best would need. The sophomore scored a career-high two goals and added an assist in his return to the lineup.
 
Senior Ethan Nitkin (Miami Beach, Fla.) added three points of his own with a goal and two assists. Ty Mathews (Auburn, Mass.) and Jeffrey Skinner (Katy, Texas) each notched a goal and and an assist of their own. 
 
Junior Andy Walker (Detroit, Mich.) tied Nitkin for the team lead with a pair of assists. 
 
Reigning New England Hockey Conference Goalie of the Week Tate Brandon took the loss after allowing five goals on 31 shots in 40 minutes of action. Blaine Moore came off the bench and stopped all nine shots he faced in the third period. 
 
UMass Boston opened the scoring with less than five minutes remaining in the first period. Skinner came racing into the zone and ripped a shot that Brandon stopped, but the rebound slid right to Nitkin who zipped the puck into an empty net for his third goal in the past two games. 
 
Clifton started the scoring in the second period. The sophomore gobbled up a Mathews rebound and poked the shot past Brandon for a 2-0 advantage at 6:54. 
 
UMass Boston put the game away with three goals in the final 4:09 of the period. 
 
Mathews made it 3-0 at 15:51 off a wrister from the slot. Skinner added a goal 67 seconds later off of feeds from Walker and Nitkin. The Beacons closed out the scoring at 19:29, when Ryan Rowland (Manahawkin, N.J.) found Clifton at the back door and the sophomore slipped one past Brandon for a 4-on-4 goal. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston outshot the Thoroughbreds 40-35. Skidmore owned a 40-28 edge in face-offs.
• Best has posted three-straight shutouts since UMass Boston returned from break, but the Beacons win over the University of Rhode Island Club team was an exhibition and doesn't count towards the team's or individual's stats. 
• UMass Boston improved to 19-15-4 all-time against Skidmore. The Beacons have won five in a row and eight of the past nine meetings. 
• Best is now looking to chase down Faust and Bendel's scoreless streaks. In 2012, Bendel posted back-to-back shutouts and didn't allow a goal for 179:41. Faust set the program record during the Beacons 2016 NCAA Tournament run, when he did not allow a goal for 182:16. Best's streak currently stands right at 120 minutes. 
• Mathews has now recorded multiple points in three-straight games. The freshman has four goals and four assists in his past three. 
• Both teams failed to score on the power-play. The Beacons went 0-3 and held Skidmore to an 0-5 mark. 
• Sophomore Jacob Banks (Westminster, Mass.) made his collegiate debut in the win. The sophomore forward suffered an injury in the team's exhibition win of the EHL All-Stars and was sidelined for all of first semester. 

 
WHO'S NEXT 
 
UMass Boston will host Castleton University on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.