MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's hockey team fell to the #3 nationally-Ranked UMass Boston, 5-1, in non-conference action on Saturday night at the Max Ulin Rink in Milton, Mass. The loss drops the Colonels to 0-1 overall. The Beacons improve to 1-0 on the season.
UMB jumped out to a quick lead just 5:16 into the first period. The Beacons took a one goal advantage on a power-play opportunity. Senior Mike Apreda (Newmarket, Ontario) was called for a hit from behind at 3:41. With less than 30 seconds left on the man-up, senior Zach Lindsay (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) took a shot from outside the crease past the glove of Curry's senior goaltender Brett Sinclair (St. Catharines, Ontario). Lindsay was assisted by sophomore Gabe Chuckran (Media, Pa.). UMB netted the eventual game-winning goal on another power-play opportunity with 3:14 showing on the clock. Senior Jake Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba) got a hooking call at 16:28 and was in the box for just 18 seconds before the Beacons earned the tally. UMB's junior Colin Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) won the face-off in the Colonels defensive zone. Larkin sent the puck to senior Tyler Bishop (Ramsey, N.J.) who found classmate Albee Daley (Averill Park, N.Y.) alone in front of the net. Daley stuck the puck past Sinclair to head into the second frame with a 2-0 lead. The Beacons held a 17-9 advantage in shots.
UMB came out strong to start the second as they pushed their lead to 3-0 with only 1:20 off the scoreboard. The Beacons won the first face-off and were patient with the puck in their offensive zone. Sophomore David MacGregor (Azusa, Calif.) fired the puck into the top right corner of the net off assists by Bishop and Lindsay. Curry finally got on the board at 6:45 after capitalizing on their power-play opportunity. Lindsay was in the box for high-sticking at 6:19. It didn't take long for the Colonels to take advantage of the man-up situation and earn their first score of the night. Junior Shane Tracy (Bow, N.H.) tipped the puck past UMB's freshman netminder Jordan Bustard (Flanders, N.J.). Tracy was assisted by senior Sean Nelson (Brighton, Mich.) and junior Adam Valadao (Ajax, Ontario). The scored remained 3-1 throughout the final minutes of the second. The Beacons had 16 shots while the Colonels had 11.
The final period saw UMB put up two more tallies for the 5-1 victory. Sophomore Garrett Gallagher (Aston, Pa.) earned the fourth goal for his team at the 5:15 minute mark. Gallagher collected a rebound off a shot by freshman Ryan Cusin (Detroit, Mich.) and fired it into the back of the net. The Beacons final score on the night came with just 1:31 left to play. UMB earned another power-play goal when Apreda was called for slashing at 17:10. Freshman Tyler Sifferlan (North Andover, Mass.) netted his first
Curry went 1-3 on power plays while UMB was 3-9. The Beacons had 49 shots while the Colonels had 26. .
Sinclair made an impressive 44 saves in net for Curry in the loss. Bustard had 25 stops in net for UMB in the win.
Curry is back in action on November 3 when they travel to Salve Regina for their first conference match-up of the season at 7:35 p.m. UMB returns to action on November 5 when they host UMass Dartmouth in a non-conference game slated for 4:00 p.m.
