BOSTON, Mass. – Returning home for the first time since the calendar changed to 2023, UMass Boston Men's Ice Hockey returned to the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink on Friday night, earning a 3-2 victory over University of Southern Maine to improve to 5-6-0 in New England Hockey Conference play.
Entering Friday, UMass Boston was sixth in the NEHC, tied with Skidmore College at 13 points. However, the Thoroughbreds currently own the tiebreaker between the two teams and have two games in hand.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 3, University of Southern Maine 2
UMass Boston (8-10-0, 5-6-0 NEHC)
University of Southern Maine (3-14-1, 2-10-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening 20 minutes was dominated by both goaltenders as senior goalie
Sam Best for the Beacons and sophomore goalie Mason Palmer for the Huskies combined for 28 saves while both teams tallied up 47 total shots. UMass Boston held a 19-9 edge in shots on goal and 30-17 advantage overall in shots, but neither team would be able to put the puck into the back of the net.
Both teams would get on the scoreboard in the second period as the Huskies would strike first when sophomore froward Azam Jiwa turned back on the left side of the ice and passed to freshman defender Kadin Ilott. Ilott lost control of the puck which trickled over to sophomore forward Mathieu Sabourin who had Best beat to the right, giving Southern Maine the 1-0 lead.
UMass Boston would respond with a pair of goals to take the lead with the first coming from senior forward
Dakota Concannon, unassisted on the power play. After an initial shot from the Beacon offense, the second shot from junior forward
Evan Googins was poked away by Palmer before the puck found Concannon's stick and the senior squeezed it by the right post to tie the game at one.
With just under four minutes left in the second, junior forward
Corey Clifton netted the go-ahead goal after the puck was redirected by a stick on the Huskies' defense and onto Clifton's in the middle of the zone. Clifton fired a one-timer by the right side of Palmer, freezing him in net, and giving UMass Boston a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
Only nine seconds into the final frame, the Beacons would extend their lead to two goals as junior forward Jacobs Banks recorded his third goal of the season. A puck played in by junior defender
Blake Colman took an awkward bounce off the boards and right onto the stick of a streaking Banks down the center of the ice through the Huskies' defense. With nothing but Palmer in his way, the junior buried the shot by his left side for the 3-1 UMass Boston lead.
But Southern Maine would not go down quietly, punching back with their second goal of the affair from Ilott who rifled a shot by Best after saving the loose puck from going out of the offensive zone, trimming the Huskies' deficit to one, 3-2, with 11:47 remaining in regulation. Pulling Palmer with 1:42 left and having a power play, Southern Maine looked for one more chance to tie the game and send it to overtime. But the UMass Boston defense and
Sam Best would hold strong for the 3-2 victory at home.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Sam Best stopped 18 of 20 shots he faced from Southern Maine
- Mason Palmer withstood 47 shots from UMass Boston, stopping 44 of the attempts
- The UMass Boston penalty kill went a perfect 4-for-4 on the evening
- The Beacons held a 75-40 edge in shots and 47-20 advantage in shots on goal
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston caps off the weekend with a matchup against 12
th-nationally ranked Babson College tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 PM inside the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink. The Beacons fell 5-2 on the road against the Beavers on November 11
th.
