WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - It was a back-and-forth thriller of a hockey game this evening at the Lansing Chapin Rink, but the Williams Men's hockey team came out ahead of the University of Massachusetts Boston thanks to a Ryan Young top-shelf score with less than five minutes to go in regulation for the 4-3 win.
With the victory, Williams now boasts a 13-6-2 overall record, and has bounced back nicely with back-to-back wins (including last Saturday's win over St. Michael's), after dropping back-to-back games to top-ranked Plattsburgh and Norwich teams. UMass Boston falls to 7-13-2, and have been victorious only twice over their last eleven games.
The first half of the opening period was played mostly in the Ephs defensive zone, as the Beacons forechecked fiercely and created several scoring chances. But about midway through, Williams began to find their offense, and after drawing a penalty in the neutral zone, senior defenseman Chris Fahey blasted a shot on goal from the point that senior forward Matt Draheim backhanded over the glove of UMass goalie Ryan Donovan for the power play strike. Freshman defenseman Justin Troiani also assisted the goal. Just 2:42 later, Draheim found net again from between the circles after sophomore forward Connor Olvany fed him from the corner. The veteran fired a top-shelf wrist shot for his 7th of the season.
"Emotionally we didn't have the start that we should have had," admitted Eph head coach Bill Kangas. "They came at us early on, and even with the two Draheim goals, I saw a lot of things in that period that we could have done better. Taking three penalties to start the second period didn't help our cause either."
The Beacons jumped on their opportunities in the middle frame, scoring on two out of their three power play chances. The first score was created by an off-angle shot from Andrew Burke that Eph rookie netminder Ryan Purdy had trouble handling. As he searched behind him for the loose puck, junior forward Kris Kranzky fought through the scrum and knocked it home for his 7th of the year. The tying goal was a top-shelf laser off the stick of freshman defenseman Wayne Sands, who glided into the circle and flung it in for his 6th this season. The UMass Boston rally was capped at 14:08 in the second, when freshman defenseman John Hubbard snapped a very quick, very accurate lead pass to sophomore forward Vinnie Jacona, who had an uncontested lane to the net. He finished the play from between the circles for his 8th goal this season.
"We didn't play our most consistent game today," said Kangas, "but we improved most areas of game throughout the course of the evening. The forecheck, the penalty kill, our offensive attack...all improved as the game went on. We pulled it together when it counted and played a very strong third period. That's always better to see than the reverse."
The Ephs wasted little time in turning their game around. At 2:13 of the final twenty minutes, Draheim and sophomore forward Matt Masucci connected with Fahey, who slid a snapshot under the pads of Donovan for the tying goal, his second this season. After killing off two huge Beacon power plays, the speedy senior forward Brett Haraguchi found the puck and stick handled swiftly from the Ephs own blue line into the middle of the UMass zone. When a poke-check thwarted his coast-to-coast attempt, the puck came to the stick of sophomore forawrd Rryan Young, who registered the game winning goal at 15:29, his 7th this year. Despite calling a timeout and emptying their net in the final minute, the Beacons were unable to find the net again as the Ephs held on firmly to their lead to take the game.
Shots were 42 to 36 in favor of UMass Boston. Williams was 1 for 2 on the power play while the Beacons went 2 for 6 in their losing effort.
"We got the two points today and that's all that matters," conceded Kangas. "We're playing a very hot Babson team tomorrow however. They are an opportunistic squad that likes to forecheck and play pressure hockey, so we will need to put forward a more consistent defensive performance tomorrow if we want to sweep the weekend."
Babson will travel to Williamstown tomorrow for a 3pm face-off at the Lansing Chapman Rink.
