BOSTON – The Skidmore College men's hockey team withstood a third-period surge from UMass Boston but held on to defeat the third-seeded Beacons, 5-3, in a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) quarterfinal on Saturday night on the road.
 
It is Skidmore's first playoff win since 2012. The Thoroughbreds will try to reach their first-ever appearance in the conference title game next Saturday, Feb. 26 at top-seeded and nationally fifth-ranked Hobart in the semifinals. The Statesmen won their quarterfinal matchup against Southern Maine, 5-2.
 
Austin Rook scored twice for Skidmore, including the game-winning tally. Tate Brandon came up with several key saves for the Thoroughbreds in the third period to preserve the lead. He finished with 39 saves, 16 of which over the final 20 minutes.
 
The Skidmore penalty kill, which finished the regular season as the league's best at 87 percent successful, not only killed both UMass Boston powerplays but scored the go-ahead goal at 12:05 of the second period while a man down. Mason Beecher scored the shorthanded tally on a breakaway after Danny Magnuson stripped an attacker of the puck near the Skidmore blue line.
 
Skidmore found itself with a three-goal advantage early in the third period after goals 25 seconds apart from Mike Gelatt and Rook. UMass Boston came out of a timeout with a vengeance, scoring within 58 seconds and again 22 ticks later to make it 4-3. Skidmore held firm over the final 15 minutes, which included a penalty kill, and Jack Strauss connected on an empty net from long range with 6.4 seconds remaining to seal it.
 
Devin Moran was credited with the goal for UMass Boston to open the scoring from Corey Clifton and Owen Bourdow at 8:11 of the first period. It was a tough-luck bounce for the Thoroughbreds, off a defender's skate, after Brandon initially made the save. Skidmore got it back with 4:40 remaining in the first period when Rook came in on the left wing, surprising Beacon goalie Sam Best, with a wrister. Zach Lindewirth and Magnuson collected the assists.
 
Gelatt ripped a wrist shot over the blocker at 3:05 of the third to make it 3-1. Kaeden Patrick and Matthew Monk assisted. Then, on a clean faceoff win, Reid Russell dished the puck down the wall from the point to Zach Frisk, who shipped it across the goal line to Rook waiting on the far post for the tap in.
 
Chris Peters and Nolan Barrett scored for the hosts to quickly swing momentum the other way.
 
Skidmore was strong in the faceoff circle to help stave off the Beacons. The Thoroughbreds won 46-of-73 (63 percent) draws, spearheaded by Everett Wardle, who won 16-of-21 faceoffs. Frisk and Beecher got 11 apiece, and Thomas Fink won seven and lost just two.
 
In the other NEHC semifinal, second-seeded Elmira will host fourth-seeded Babson. Each of the three other teams in the final four are ranked nationally in the top eight.