Worcester, MA- The Lancers (3-8, 3-6 MASCAC) traveled east to Dorchester for their first matchup of the New Year against the UMass-Boston Beacons (4-7-2, 3-5-0 NEHC) in the 58th playing of the yearly Codfish Bowl.
The Codfish Bowl originated in 1965 as an alternative to the Beanpot for lower-division schools to participate in and is the second longest-running hockey tournament in the country. UMass-Boston has hosted the tournament since 1982. This will be the Lancers third appearance in the tournament where they are joined by Suffolk University (2-10-1, 1-6-1 NEHC) and Connecticut College (3-5-1, 2-4 NESCAC) for the 2024 showdown.
It has been nearly a month since we've seen the Lancers in action with their last game being played on Dec. 9 before the winter break.
FINAL:
UMASS BOSTON: 5 | LANCERS: 3
HOW IT HAPPENED:
END FIRST PERIOD: LANCERS 1 | UMASS BOSTON 0
The first few minutes of the period were dominated by the Beacons and their ability to keep possession and pressure in their zone. With 16:42 remaining, first-year defenseman Michael Schaaf (Nashua, NH) was sent to the penalty box for holding, allowing the charging Beacons to add to their momentum. The Lancers successfully killed off the powerplay and merely seconds passed before the puck was dumped into the Lancer zone with a hustling chase down from senior forward Mikey Wilson (Alexandria, VA), the captain's first game back from injury, who took the puck away from the Beacon player and with his elite vision was able to dish a pass to first-year forward Spencer Hecklinger (Denver, CO) who found first-year forward Evan Armit (Dryden, Ontario) for his second goal of the season.
Junior goalkeeper Jakub Kubik (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic) made outstanding saves to keep the Beacons scoreless and Lancers in front. Kubik recorded two amazing saves in the seventh minute of the period as he was able to stop a three-on-one chance while also making another tremendous save in a lackluster moment when the net was open and Kubik chased down a puck to keep it out.
END SECOND PERIOD: UMASS BOSTON 4 | LANCERS 2
Much like the first period, UMass came out in the second on a mission, scoring four goals to go ahead 4-2. The first goal of the period was netted by junior defender Ryan Leonard (Duxbury, MA) for his first of the season. Leonard received a pass from the left corner behind the net in the Lancer zone where he wound up and fired a slap shot from the blue line to tie the game 1-1.
A second scoring chance came for the Beacons, this time sophomore forward Jazz Krivstov (Santa Clarita, CA) entered the Lancer zone from the right side of the ice where he had a man crashing on the net, instead, he chose to dump the puck smoothly behind him to Cliffton Corey who dished the puck back to Krivstov for an open shot and goal giving his team a 2-1 lead, his first of the season for the Beacons.
Graduate student forward Brendan Ronan (Saugus, MA) was called for the second penalty of the day for the Lancers, this one for boarding. The penalty kill was successful once again as Kubik stopped four shots with the team a skater down.
5:47 remained when the Beacons added to their goal total with another chance created on a one-timer that was blocked by Kubik, but unfortunately for the Lancers graduate student Conor Foley (Nahant, MA) was in the right place at the right time for the juicy rebound and score, to widen the lead 3-1.
Under two minutes remained when junior forward Brigham Neuhold (Edmond, Okla.) scored his first goal of the season. 1:35 remained when a Lancer juked around the Beacon defender and was able to find Neuhold with the space created by the move cutting the deficit to one goal 3-2.
With time running out in the second, 19 seconds remained when UMass struck again to pull ahead 4-2 off the stick of Ryan Leonard, his second of the night.
END THIRD / FINAL: UMASS BOSTON 5 | LANCERS 3
UMass once again started the period off on fire as Jazz Krivstov scored his second goal of the afternoon 1:58 into the final period. Kristov positioned himself on the right dot, gliding into the slot when he launched a wrist shot that snuck by Kubik, the score now 5-2.
The Lancers answered back with a steal from senior forward Brian Clougherty (Lynn, MA) taking the puck from zone to zone, deking past a defender for a one-on-one chance that was deflected by the Beacon goalkeeper where Neuhold was there to clean up, netting his second goal of the day and cutting the deficit to 5-3.
Junior defender Zachary Winslow drew the Lancers third penalty of the day, being sent away for tripping. The strong Lancer powerplay kill once again stopped the extra skater advantage for a perfect 3/3 on the powerplay kill for the afternoon.
Neuhold's goal proved to be the final attempt of a Codfish Bowl comeback, as the Lancers were downed 5-3 in their first action since break.
UP NEXT:
With the loss, Worcester's record falls to (3-9, 3-6 MASCAC). The team will have an opportunity to play in the Codfish Bowl consolation game tomorrow, Saturday, January 6th, at 1 p.m. with their opponent to be decided depending on the outcome of the Conn. College vs. Suffolk University game that will be taking place later today.