AMHERST, Mass. – Playing their fifth ranked opponent in the last six games to close out their nonconference slate ahead of 12 consecutive conference games to close the regular season and a four-game homestand, UMass Boston Women's Ice Hockey fell on the road to fifth-ranked Amherst College on New Year's Eve, 6-1.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 1, Amherst College 6
UMass Boston (5-8-0)
#5 Amherst College (8-1-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore forward Anna Baxter located senior defender Avery Flynn streaking in for a shot against junior goalie
Victoria Kennedy who deflected the initial shot attempt. The bouncing puck found the stick of freshman forward Marie-Eve Marleau who beat Kennedy for the first goal of the afternoon, putting Amherst 1-0 early on in the first period.
But three minutes later, the Beacons would tie the game as junior forward
Katie Wilbert intercepted a pass in the Mammoth's defensive zone and beat freshman goalie Natalie Stott between the legs for her third goal of the season to tie the game back up with just under 16 minutes left in the opening frame.
Amherst would hold a 31-6 advantage in shots and 19-3 edge in shots on goal while leading 2-1 after the opening 20 minutes. Sophomore forward Alyssa Xu helped the Mammoths regain their lead with an unassisted goal into the top right corner shot against Kennedy, following a neutral zone turnover by the Beacons.
Almost halfway through the second, Amherst would net two goals in 13 seconds as junior forward Rylee Glennon scored a power play goal on passes from Flynn and senior defender Leslie Schwartz off the right post. Then a deflected shot by freshman forward Maeve Reynolds from senior forwards Carley Daly and Kate Pohl squirted past Kennedy at the left post to make it 4-1 in favor of the Mammoths.
Freshman forward
Sydney Leonard and senior forward
Cailey Kozich would each have breakaway opportunities for the Beacons towards the end of the second period that would be stopped by Stott and a power play chance that would be killed by the Mammoths, who maintained a three-goal advantage over UMass Boston.
In relief of Kennedy, freshman goalie
Leah Bosch stopped the first 23 shots she faced in net before allowing a goal to Marleau on the Amherst rush from Schwartz and freshman defender Emily Hohmann, making it 5-1. Another Mammoth goal from sophomore forward Maggie Groszek from Reynolds and junior forward Ellie DeCarlo gave Amherst their sixth goal of the contest as the Beacons fell, 6-1, on New Year's Eve.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston was outshot 100-22 and 54-13 in shots on goal by Amherst
- Victoria Kennedy made 21 saves on 24 shot attempts before Leah Bosch entered the game and stopped 27 shots on 29 attempts from Amherst
- UMass Boston closes out their best offensive month of the season, having scored nine goals in four games during December, the Beacons scored 11 goals in eight games during the month of November
- This was the fifth ranked opponent that UMass Boston has faced in their last six games (Colby, Nazareth, Connecticut College, Middlebury, Amherst)
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will begin a stretch in which they will play six of their next eight games at home inside the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink, all of which will be conference games, starting with a matchup against Castleton University on Friday, January 6
th, 2023, at 6:00 PM. UMass Boston is 22-8-2 all-time against the Spartans, but dropped two of their three matchups last season, including an overtime loss at home in the New England Hockey Conference Quarterfinals.
