BOSTON, Mass. – Junior forward Corey Clifton opened up the game with a first-period power play goal as UMass Boston Men's Ice Hockey won their seventh Codfish Bowl Tournament Championship and went back-to-back as tournament champions for the second time in program history after defeating Albertus Magnus College, 4-1, in the 57^th Annual Codfish Bowl Championship Game on Friday afternoon.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 4, Albertus Magnus College 1

UMass Boston (5-8-0)

Albertus Magnus College (10-4-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Like a day earlier, it would be UMass Boston striking first on the power play after an Albertus Magnus turnover in the defensive zone. Freshman forward Grady Friedman pulled the puck down before hitting freshman forward Mike Manzo with a pass in the center of the offensive zone. Locating Clifton, who was named Most Valuable Player of the Codfish Bowl with two goals and two assists, on the right-side circle, Manzo hit the junior with a pass, and he rifled it into the top right corner of the goal mouth, giving the Beacons the early 1-0 advantage.

Each team would have a pair of power plays in the opening 20 minutes with UMass Boston converting on their first of the day while holding Albertus Magnus off the scoreboard and leading 12-9 in shots on goal.

After killing off a penalty to start the second, which included two big saves from senior goalie Sam Best and a breakaway opportunity for sophomore forward Koyle Bankauskas, the Beacons would tally their second goal of the game on a right-side rush to extend their lead to 2-0. A pass from Manzo to Clifton led to a two-on-one opportunity in which the open man in Friedman fired a one-timer past senior goalie Logan Bateman's left side.

A hit to the head by freshman defender Austin Cook against sophomore defender Michael Krupinski, leading to a five-minute penalty, as well as a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to the Albertus Magnus bench, put UMass Boston in a 5-on-3 situation with just over eight minutes remaining in the second period.

The Beacons would cash in on the power play chance, making it 3-0, after a faceoff win by Manzo found the stick of junior defender Blake Colman at the point who beat Bateman with a shot just under the crossbar as UMass Boston held a three-goal advantage with 20 more minutes to play.

Senior forward Luke James cut into the Beacon lead, receiving a pair of passes from senior forward Alex Gagnon and freshman defender Connor Bertamini to beat Best on the right side of the net with over 15 minutes remaining in the final frame. But UMass Boston would take back the momentum after an Albertus Magnus penalty resulted in another power play goal for the Beacons less than 20 seconds later the Mike Manzo to Blake Colman connection helped UMass Boston regain their three-goal edge, 4-1, with Colman's second goal of the contest.

The UMass Boston penalty kill would stand strong during a 5-on-3 advantage for Albertus Magnus, bringing their penalty kill to a perfect 6-for-6 on Friday and 11-for-11 on the tournament weekend as the Beacons rolled to their Codfish Bowl Championship victory, 4-1.  

BY THE NUMBERS

• A Stevenson University transfer, Blake Colman netted his first two goals with UMass Boston, Colman now has 10 career goals in three collegiate hockey seasons
• Both teams combined for 83 penalty minutes in the contest, with the Falcons finishing with 47 minutes and the Beacons with 36 minutes
• This is seventh time in the 57-year history of the Codfish Bowl Tournament in which they have been crowned champions and second time winning it in back-to-back years (2013 & 2014)
• After scoring only three power play goals through their first 10 games, UMass Boston scored three on Friday and five throughout the entire Codfish Bowl Tournament
• Sam Best earned his third consecutive win in net, stopping 35 of the 36 shots he faced, finishing the tournament with only two goals allowed
• UMass Boston has now scored three-plus goals in three consecutive games after being shutout in their previous three games

WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston returns after the new year to begin their final 12 games of the regular season, all of which are New England Hockey Conference matchups, starting on January 6^th, 2023. The Beacons will hit the road to take on Castleton University with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 PM. UMass Boston is 17-7-4 all-time against the Spartans, having gone 15-0-2 in their last 17 head-to-head matchups.