BOSTON, Mass.—Seniors Frankie DeAugustine (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Mike Miller (Wrentham, Mass.) and Derek Colucci (North Scituate, R.I.) recorded a goal and an assist apiece, to lift #13/13 UMass Boston men's hockey to a comeback 4-3 win over Curry College on Opening Night at the Beacons Ice Arena.
THE BASICS
#13/13 UMass Boston 4, Curry College 3
(UMass Boston 1-0-0, New England Hockey Conference 1-0-0)
(Curry College 0-1-0, ECAC Northeast 0-1-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Just hours after the Northeast Hockey Conference became an official entity, UMass Boston ensured that the conference would enjoy a winning first night (4-2), as the Beacons scored three of the final four goals, to move to 6-0-0 all-time against the Colonels.
Trailing 2-1 midway through the second, the Beacons got goals from Miller, Colucci and DeAugustine to complete the comeback 4-3 win.
The Beacons opened the scoring just 5:42 into the contest, when freshman Garrison Sanipass (Northbrook, Ill.) took a centering feed from senior Alex Demchuk (Calgary Alberta) and sent a hard snipe through Brett Sinclair's five-hole for a 1-0 lead. Colucci was credited with the second assist on the play.
Curry answered back with under two minutes to play in the period though, as James Murphy tipped Mike Aspreda's shot from the blue line over Billy Faust's (Alta Loma, Calif.) shoulder for a 1-1 tie.
Three minutes later in game action, Ryan Fitzgerald wristed a shot from the far circle over Faust's shoulder for a 2-1 advantage just a minute into the second period. Zachery White picked up his first assist on the play, while Jake Heisinger added his second of the season.
Miller answered back for UMass Boston at 8:41, as DeAugustine forced a turnover in the Colonels end and Miller's shot went up and off of Sinclair's pads for a 2-2 tie. Sophomore Colin Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) was credited with an assist on the play.
Curry took their second and final lead of the day at 6:07 of the third. Captain Sean Nelson fired what looked like an innocent slap shot, but it went off the top of Faust's glove and in, for a 3-2 advantage.
The Beacons would need just 3:06 to respond, as they scored their first power-play goal of the season. Freshman defenseman Gabe Chuckran (Media, Pa.) purposefully sent a shot caroming back off the boards and Colucci corralled the rebound in front, before spinning around and sending a shot just inside the far post.
UMass Boston tacked on the game-winner thanks to some brilliant play from their first line. Miller started the rush and had his initial effor blocked right back at him, before he skated in on the near side and sent a hard shot off Sinclair's pads. With the puck bouncing hard towards the far side, DeAugustine swooped in and sent a one-timer into the netting for a 4-3 lead at 15:12.
BY THE NUMBERS
· Faust made 28 saves on 31 shots in the victory to improve to 19-4-3 as a Beacon.
· Sinclair stopped 45 of 49 shots in the loss.
· UMass Boston improved to 6-0-0 against Curry in the victory. In the six all-time meetings, UMass Boston has outscored the Colonels 41-13.
· Colucci recorded his first goal since January 5, 2014 in the victory.
· Demchuk's assist was his first collegiate point in his second collegiate game.
· UMass Boston featured six freshmen in the contest.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will open their season-high seven-game road trip next Saturday, when the Beacons travel to intra-state rival UMass Dartmouth. Curry travels to Babson tomorrow for a 4:00 p.m. game start. (Game Recap Courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information)
