BOSTON, Mass. - NEC freshman Casey Sturm (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) netted his second goal of the season as the Pilgrims fell short against UMass-Boston on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-1 to the Beacons in Little East Conference (LEC) action. 

The Beacons scored the first three goals of the game with one in the first from Jazz Krivstov and two in the second from Zander Lizotte and Jack Mortson, with the latter being on a power-play goal, to take a commanding 3-0 lead.  

Sturm responded with his second career goal with 4:19 left in the second period, assisted by freshman Matteo Viglino (Davos, Switzerland) and sophomore Egor Osipik (Minsk, Belarus). Osipik fought for the loose puck behind the Beacons' net before dishing it off to Viglino, who found a streaking Sturm for the score. 

The Pilgrims went 0-for-5 on power plays in the game, including 0-for-3 in the third period as they were on the hunt for a potential comeback. The 'Grims had five shots, including three on goal, during an empty-net, man-up chance over the final 66 seconds of the game. NEC outshot UMB 32-24 on the day but struggled to find the back of the net outside of Sturm's second period strike. 

Senior Danny Miscavish (Macomb, Mich.) made his fifth start of the season, making 21 saves in the loss. For the Beacons, Alex Koenig had 31 stops. 

The 'Grims will stay on the road next weekend as they drive up I-93 to Plymouth State on Saturday, February 14th, for a 6:00 PM matchup against their travel partner.  

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