SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - UMass Boston Men's Ice Hockey ran into a buzz saw in the opening round of the New England Hockey Conference tournament in the form of the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds. The Beacons kept even with the hosts in the first period before falling by a final score of 5-1.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 1, Skidmore College 5

UMass Boston (9-15-2)
Skidmore College (18-6-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams struggled to crack the net in the early goings of the first period, with UMass Boston's Sam Best trading saves with Skidmore's Tate Brandon. After their first nine shots came up short, the Thoroughbreds opened up the scoring with just over a minute to play, taking a 1-0 lead. 

Skidmore continued to find their groove on offense in the second period, netting scores in the seventh and 13th minutes to stretch their lead to 3-0 at the second intermission. 

The Thoroughbreds touched the back of the net once again early in the third, but were quickly matched by UMass Boston's Kolye Bankauskas. Jacob Banks, playing in his final game for the Beacons, provided the assist to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Skidmore would go on to score once more in the third to hand the Beacons a season-ending 5-1 loss.

BY THE NUMBERS

• In his final game in a UMass Boston uniform, Best recorded 34 saved, including 12 in the second and 13 in the third
• Bankauskas and Jazz Krovstov are the only Beacons to score five goals in each of the last two seasons
• Skidmore leads the all-time series between the two teams 21-19-5