BOSTON — Third-seeded UMass Boston scored three times in the opening 7:50 on its way to a 7-2 win over sixth-seeded University of New England in an ECAC Men’s East Hockey Tournament quarterfinal-round game played Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center.
The Beacons (17-5-4) advance to face the winner of No. 2 Babson College and No. 7 University of Southern Maine in one of next Saturday’s semifinal games. The Nor’easters conclude their season with a school-record 10 wins (10-15-1 record).
Nathan Milam scored twice to lead the Beacons’ offense. Dan Cornell, Peter MacIntyre, Travis Daniel, Albee Daley and Frankie DeAugustine added a goal apiece. MacIntyre assisted on two scores to finish with a three-point afternoon.
The Nor’easters received goals from Jared Melman and Zeth Zielinski.
The hosts jumped on Big Blue early to take control. Cornell scored just 37 seconds into the game, then Milam converted a Beacon power-play opportunity two minutes later to give UMass Boston a 2-0 lead. MacIntrye notched what would prove to be the game-winning goal at the 7:50 mark to extend the Beacons’ advantage to 3-0.
UNE got on the board with just over two minutes left in the period. Melman extended his school single-season record with his 16th marker. His power-play goal was set up by Patrick Borer and Tom Gildersleeve.
UMass Boston scored twice with its speciality teams in the middle period to put the game out of reach. Daniel had a power-play goal at 12:53, and Daley scored short-handed at 17:41.
Nick Wirth set-up Zielinski 49 seconds into the third period to make the score 5-2, but Milam and DeAugstine tallied over the ensuing four minutes to complete the scoresheet.
Winning goaltender Billy Faust had 35 saves for UMass Boston, while Colby Drost (26) and Craig Ryan (6) combined to stop 32 shots for the Nor’easters.
Women’s Hockey
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sophomore Marissa Clifford-Biederman netted her second goal in as many days to break a tied game and push the University of New England women’s ice hockey squad to a 2-1 victory over Buffalo State College to close out the season on Saturday afternoon at the Buffalo State Ice Arena.
The Nor’easters finished their second year of existence with a record of 9-11-5 after just one win last season.
After the Bengals (3-20-2) opened the scoring with the lone marker of the 1st period from Nikki Kirchberger, UNE pulled even with nearly 15 minutes gone in the 2nd frame. First-year Gabby Crugnale notched her 10th score of the year with assists going to Clifford-Biederman and first-year Shannon Smith.
Then with 3:01 left in the 3rd, Clifford-Biederman moved Big Blue in front off a feed from Smith.
Sophomore goalie Samantha Scobee turned away the few tries that came her way in the final moments to seal the decision. She finished with 11 saves for the visitors, who out-shot their opponents by a 28-12 margin.
Jordan Lee posted 26 stops for the home team.
Men’s Basketball
BIDDEFORD — Roger Williams University put together a 19-2 run over four minutes in the latter stages of the opening half to gain a lead it would not relinquish on the way to a 58-51 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men’s basketball victory in the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon at the Harold Alfond Forum.
The Hawks secure the sixth seed for the upcoming CCC tournament with the win, improving to 10-15 overall and 9-9 in league action. RWU will head to Gordon College on Tuesday for the quarterfinal round.
UNE concludes its 2013-14 campaign with a mark of 1-24 (1-17 CCC).
Junior Ryan Palumbo and first-year Jake LePrevost paced the visiting squad with 15 points apiece. Palumbo added seven rebounds, eight assists, and four steals, while converting 11-of-12 at the charity stripe. Senior Will Gerencer chipped in with 11 points.
Roger Williams shot just 27 percent (16 of 60) for the game, but knocked down 20 free throws to out-score the hosts by 12 in the category.
The Nor’easters were led by the team’s lone senior, Kurt Steiner, who dropped in a season-best 17 points to go with a season-high eight rebounds. First-year Brayden Morse recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards.
UNE was up 14-9 with 6:30 left in the 1st half before the Hawks surged back to assume a 28-16 cushion just prior to the break. Palumbo and Gerencer each scored six in the span.
Near the middle of the 2nd half, a three-point play from sophomore Jesse Dykstra and a triple by Steiner trimmed the deficit to one (34-33), but 13 of the next 16 points went for RWU to provide just enough separation down the stretch.
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