BY MATTHEW WEDDLETON // MARCH 5, 2015 //

The Curry winter sports season has come to a close, so it’s time to take a look back before the college begins to focus on the spring season ahead.

The men’s basketball team struggled throughout the season, finishing 6-19 overall and an abysmal 4-14 record in conference play. Senior guard Antonio Jones finished the season with an impressive 19 points per game, which was second best in the Commonwealth Coast Conference; the scoring champ, from Eastern Nazarene, finished with 19.2 ppg.

In addition, Jones reached the 1,000-point club on Jan. 20 after dropping 29 points versus the University of New England. Jones became the 19th men’s player in Curry history to score 1,000 points in four seasons. He later earned third-team all-conference honors.

Curry loses only four seniors this season: Jones, Jordan Vieira (3.1 ppg), Matt Russell (8.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Kylerr Bucano.

The women’s side showed a lot of energy and grit, posting an overall regular-season record of 17-12 (12-6 in conference play). Senior guard Kylie Beltz, who is a nursing major at Curry, averaged a team-best 14.4 points per game while adding 2.8 steals.

The team’s major weakness was turnovers. The Colonels finished last in the conference in turnovers, with 21.1 per game. Despite that, the women earned the third seed in the playoffs. Curry knocked off Salve Regina in the quarterfinals, followed by a win over Endicott in the semis. The Colonels then traveled to the University of New England, where they lost 81-72 in the championship game.

Beltz led the way, as she did all season, with 19 points, six assists and four rebounds.

Curry was then invited to play in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference New England tournament, where it fell in first-round action to Emmanuel College. Beltz scored only five points in the 63-53 loss, but in doing so became Curry’s all-time women’s points leader with 1,465.

Head coach Fran Elms will have some rebuilding to do next year, as the Colonels graduate Beltz, Samantha Corcoran (8 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and Jeannette Fallon (7.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg).

The ice hockey team (15-10-2 overall; 7-6-1 in the ECAC) also earned a playoff spot this winter. Senior forward Jordan Reed tore up the ECAC with 21 goals and 11 assists on the season, including a four-goal night in a 5-1 win versus Becker College. Reed showed much improvement this season, after scoring just seven goals his junior year.

Freshman Adam Valado also showed sparks this season, posting eight goals. That was good enough for second-best on the team. Sophomores Jake Heisinger and James Murphy both had 15 assists this season.

The Colonels won their first conference playoff game, against Wentworth, 8-4. From there, however, Curry advanced to face the top-seed Nichols Bisons and lost 3-2. Coming into that game, Nichols had outscored Curry 9-1 on the regular season.

Nichols scored the first three goals of the playoff game. Curry fought back in the third period, with goals by Tyler Vankleef and Chris Mason, but it was too late.

Senior goalie Derek Mohney (2.7 goals against) earned the majority of time in net this season, posting a 9-7-1 record. Sophomore Brett Sinclair (2.58), who finished 6-3-1, will likely see significantly more starts in net next season.

Curry graduates only four players, including Mason and Braeden Rudd, so it should have a strong team next year.