Sports/UMass
Hockey East tournament: UMass hockey hoping 4th time is the charm against BC
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
The old adage says beating a team three times in a season is hard. What about four?The UMass hockey team will face Boston College for the fourth time this season at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside Conte Forum in the Hockey East tournament preliminary...
UMass basketball: Minutemen’s offense fizzles in lopsided Atlantic 10 Tournament opening-round loss to Richmond
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
Going out with a whimper would have been an improvement.The UMass men’s basketball team scored a season-low 38 points and fell 71-38 against Richmond in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament’s opening game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on...
UMass basketball: Minutemen open Atlantic 10 tournament play with first-round tilt against Richmond
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
All 15 Atlantic 10 Conference men’s basketball teams are facing the same pressure this week at the Barclays Center: win the conference tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament, or lose and go home.UMass, seeded 13th, has a longer road than most. The...
UMass basketball: Cornerstones Sam Breen, Destiney Philoxy helped put Minutewomen on the national scene
By HANNAH BEVIS
It’s a story Tory Verdi loves to tell. When he first took the head coaching job at UMass back in 2016, people told him he was ‘crazy’ for coming to a program with nothing. It had no history, no culture of winning. Why would he go there? What possessed...
UMass hockey sweeps Maine; will visit BC to open Hockey East tournament
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
Cal Kiefiuk scored two goals in the first period, and the UMass hockey team defeated Maine 4-3 on Saturday to sweep the Black Bears in Alford Arena for the first time since 2010.The Minutemen hadn’t swept a Hockey East series all season, and it was...
UMass women’s basketball notebook: Minutewomen shake off slow starts
By HANNAH BEVIS
It seemed like the UMass women’s basketball team had managed to move past shaky starts that had plagued them off and on over the years.The top-seeded Minutewomen have struggled with a couple of things over the years – namely slow starts and playing...
UMass basketball: Minutemen close regular season against Saint Bonaventure on Senior Day
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
AMHERST — Coming to UMass made T.J. Weeks Jr. nervous at first.Not only was college a big thing, he was following in his father’s footsteps. Tyrone Weeks was an important part of the greatest stretch of UMass men’s basketball history from 1994-98.“I...
UMass basketball: After slow start, Minutewomen pull away from George Mason in Atlantic 10 quarterfinals
By HANNAH BEVIS
WILMINGTON, Del. – For 33 minutes, George Mason had the UMass women’s basketball team exactly where it wanted. The Patriots’ physicality, their defensive prowess, their ability to position themselves perfectly in the post to grab rebounds – Mason was...
UMass hockey weighing present and future in regular season finale at Maine
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
The past, present and future of the UMass hockey team will converge in its final regular season series.The Minutemen will visit Maine for two games Friday and Saturday (7:05 p.m. ESPN-Plus). Former UMass assistant Ben Barr is in his second year...
UMass basketball: Makennah White finding her voice with the Minutewomen
By HANNAH BEVIS
Everyone has a role to play on the UMass women’s basketball team.Ber’Nyah Mayo, the cool and calm junior who never loses her head, is the team’s analytical mind. Two-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Sam “Queen” Breen is the soul of the...
UMass basketball: Sam Breen repeats as Atlantic-10 Women’s Basketball Player of the Year
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
Long may she reign.UMass women’s basketball graduate student forward Sam Breen – “Queen Breen” to fans and on social media – was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year for the second year in a row Tuesday. She became the league’s first repeat winner...
UMass hockey notebook: Much will be settled during Hockey East’s final regular season weekend
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
Very little is decided ahead of the final weekend of the Hockey East regular season.UMass sits 10th of 11 teams with 22 points and two games at current No. 6 seed Maine on deck Friday and Saturday (both 7:05 p.m. ESPN-Plus). The Minutemen (11-16-5,...
UMass hockey upends No. 15 Northeastern on senior night
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
AMHERST – Ghosts haunted the UMass hockey team all season. Blown leads. Missed checks. Breakaway goals.It didn’t look like UMass hockey for much of the year.The Minutemen exorcised those specters and reclaimed their identity against No. 15...
UMass basketball: Minutewomen host George Washington senior day with A-10 title in sights
By HANNAH BEVIS
You know it’s been a good season of basketball when everything comes down to the final game of the regular season. The No. 1 seed at the Atlantic 10 tournament is still up for grabs, something UMass women’s basketball fans should be grateful. The...
UMass hockey hosting No. 15 Northeastern for senior night
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
A series with Hockey East’s top team might decide whether UMass occupies the league’s basement entering the season’s final weekend.The Minutemen (10-15-5, 4-13-3 Hockey East) will face No. 15 Northeastern (15-10-5, 12-5-3) in their penultimate series...
UMass basketball: Sam Breen within 2 points of school’s all-time scoring record as Minutewomen roll past Davidson 78-64
By HANNAH BEVIS
AMHERST – Fans might have worried that the UMass women’s basketball team would have a celebration hangover after Thursday’s 78-57 blowout victory over Rhode Island. There was nothing to worry about on Sunday afternoon however. The Minutewomen put...
Boston College sweeps UMass hockey despite early Minuteman goal
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
Michael Cameron scored in the first period, but the UMass hockey team couldn’t keep Boston College at bay in a 3-1 loss at the Mullins Center on Saturday.The freshman tucked away a turnaround chance in front of the Eagles net from Kenny Connors and...
First period barrage buries UMass hockey at Boston College
By KYLE GRABOWSKI
CHESTNUT HILL – Boston College poured in four goals in the final six minutes of the first period to both start and finish a 7-3 victory over UMass on Friday at Conte Forum.The Eagles (11-12-6, 6-8-5 Hockey East) took down the Minutemen (10-14-5,...
UMass basketball: Minutewomen’s win over Rhode Island a confidence booster
By HANNAH BEVIS
Thursday’s UMass game at Rhode Island was a must-win game, in more ways than one. The Minutewomen were still looking for the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic 10 tournament, and a win against Rhode Island would bring them one stop closer. But more than that,...
Shorthanded Minutemen prepare to take on URI on Saturday in Kingston
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
The Massachusetts and Rhode Island men’s basketball teams met just over a month ago, but when they square off for the second time on Saturday in Kingston, UMass’ squad will look much different from the one it had during the first meeting. Minuteman...
