UMass Lowell Defeats UNH 6-2 in Hockey East Play

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On Friday night, The UMass Lowell River Hawks began a home-and-home weekend with the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. UNH comes into this weekend playing some of their best hockey of the season, winning three straight and four of their last six games. Two of UNH”s most recent wins have come against ranked teams in Providence (2-0 ) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (3-1). Leading scorer, Cy LeClerc has had a hand in each of the Wildcats’ last three wins with a goal in each game. The River Hawks meanwhile return home after a weekend split in Maine a week ago, The River Hawks’ defense has become more a part of the offense in recent games having scored five of the team’s last 13 goals.

With twelve games left in the regular season, all in the conference, every win or loss becomes critical when looking ahead to the Hockey East playoffs. With the format being one game win or go home seeding for the postseason is now what the rest of the season is about. The starting goalies for Friday night’s game were David Fessenden for UNH, and for UMass Lowell, Gustans Davis Grigas. It would be the Wildcats that struck first as Jake Dunlap, off the left-wing side, scored his second of the year at 2:46 to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. UNH is 5-3-1 when scoring first. That lead was short-lived. At 3:17 the River Hawks went on the game’s first power play as UNH Chase Stevenson went off for a cross-check. The River Hawks’ power play cashed in as Brian Chambers put a backhand off the high slot by Fessenden for his 6th of the year at 3:46. Assists went to Jake Stella and Isac Jonsson. Not even five minutes into the game two goals were scored and the game was tied at 1-1.

The River Hawks killed off too many men on the ice minor, and almost scored a shorthanded goal as a 2-on-1. Stella’s pass across the Wildcats net was just a little too long for his target. With eight minutes left in the first, the game was still tied. The River Hawks would get their second power play of the first as Colton Huard went off for tripping at 15:32. UMass Lowell had one shot on the net during the PP. The River Hawks went right back on the power play as Dunlap was sent off for elbowing at 18:13. The first period would end with the game tied at 1-1. UMass Lowell had a shot advantage of 13-4.

The River Hawks carried 13 seconds of power play time into the second period. After the power play was over each team had solid chances. For the Wildcats, Liam Devlin broke in off the right side off a Lowell mistake and was stopped by Grigals. The River Hawks Owen Cole had his own chance down the right wing side but his shot rang off the post. Soon thereafter, Lowell took their first lead of the night as Own Fowler took the puck away from a UNH defenseman and walked in on the left side to beat Fessenden to the glove side for his fourth of the year at 3:31 of the second to make it 2-1 Lowell. The goal was unassisted. With 7:13 left in the second, Lowell was outshooting the Wildcats by a 20-10 margin. UNH tied the game on a strange play. Grigals stopped a puck behind his own net and tried to clear it up in the middle of the ice. Instead, his clearing attempt hit Wildcats right wing Cam Gendron and ended up in the back of the net for the tying score at 14:01. The goal was Gendron’s first of the season. The game was tied at 2-2. At 15:12 the Wildcats went on the power play as River Hawks defensemen John MacDonald went off for tripping. It became a 5-3 for the Wildcats as Carl Berglund went off for slashing at 17:03. Lowell took care of both penalties and the second period ended 2-2.

The River Hawks did get a late second-period power play as Luke Reid went off for tripping. A carry-over power play of 1:12 awaited Lowell to begin the third. When tied after two the River hawks are 2-2-1. UNH is 2-4-0 when tied after two. The River Hawks cashed in and took the lead on Isac Jonsson’s screenshot from the left point that found its way through and into the net for a 3-2 Lowell lead. The goal came at 45 seconds and was his fourth. Chambers and Matt Crasa had the assists. The River Hawks quickly made it a 4-2 game as Zack Kaiser broke in all alone and fired a wrist shot past Fessenden at 2:03. For Kaiser, the goal was his seventh of the year. Lowell now had a two-goal lead to protect with over fifteen minutes to play. Lowell spent the next couple of minutes buzzing around the Wildcats’ net, getting some great chances. The River Hawks looked to put this one away as they gained another power play thanks to Wildcats right-winger Chase Stevenson going off for boarding at 12:03. It was his second penalty of the game. The River Hawks did not add to their lead but did have good puck possession in the Wildcats’ zone. With 4:20 left things were looking good for the home team. The Wildcats pulled their goalie with 3:20 to play in an effort to tie the game. Lowell instead added an empty net goal off the stick of Fowler his second of the night and his fifth of the year at 18:04. The River Hawks struck again with 1:04 left as Kaiser ripped one home at 18:56. The River Hawks got the 6-2 win and improved to 13-9-1, 7-5-1 in Hockey East. UNH falls to 7-17-1, 2-12-1 in Hockey East.

After the game, both coaches spoke about how their teams played. Wildcats head coach Mike Souza thought “the better team won.” He was not happy with his team’s inability to “manage the puck.” His team struggling to score continues to be a problem. Coach Bazin liked the way his team “attacked the game” and thought this was his team’s “best 60 minutes since returning from the Christmas break.” On Saturday night, these two teams get to do it again. This time at the Whitmore Center in Durham, NH.