UMass Lowell loses to American International College, 4-3

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After a two-week break from the ice, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (6-11-2, 3-6-1) returned to Tsongas Center to meet American International College (12-8-0, 8-4-0) on Saturday afternoon. This was the 20th all-time meeting between the two teams with the River Hawks holding an 11-8-0 record. These two have not played each other since January 7, 2023, when Lowell was victorious 4-2 over the Yellow Jackets.

Your starting goaltenders for this one were Nils Wallstrom (10-7-0, 2.44 GAA) for American International College, and for the River Hawks Henry Welsch (4-6-2, 2.02 GAA, 926 SV%). An interesting note on this one was brothers playing against each other. Jake Stella for Lowell and Evan Stella for AIC. The River Hawks, after controlling the first half of the first period, got a power play chance at 10:50 when Brian Kramer went off for holding. The Yellow Jackets turned it into a 1-0 lead on a turnover at the AIC blueline by River Hawks Nick Rheaume. It led to a break out by Brett Rylander who walked in all alone and beat Welsch to the 5-hole for his second of the season. The unassisted goal was at 12:29. AIC’s special teams struck again, this time the power play came through to give them a 2-0 lead. With Shawn O’Donnell of Lowell off for tripping at 16:06, John Lundy scored his 10th of the season off a faceoff in the Lowell zone. The lone assist went to Matt Rickard. The River Hawks were now down 2-0. The first period ended that way with the shots 10-9 in favor of Lowell.

The turnovers for the River Hawks continued into the second period. Deep in the River Hawks zone, Owen Cole gave up the puck and it ended up in front of his own net. Alfred Lindberg grabbed it, skated from right to left across the crease, and scored his 7th of the year at 1:50 of the period. While the River Hawks had the shot advantage, they were having a hard time sustaining anything in the Yellow Jackets zone. Then at 9:02, Owen Cole woke up the fanbase with his fourth of the season. Scott Truman made a nice pass that found Cole who beat Wallstrom to cut the deficit to 3-1. The River Hawks cut it to 3-2 with some luck. The Yellow Jackets buzzed around the UMass Lowell net and hit the post twice. After the second ringing of the pipe, Jak Vaarwerk picked up the loose puck and rifled a pass onto the stick of Matt Crasa who from center ice, had a clear breakaway and beat Wallstrom’s inside his shoulder. The goal was Crasa’s 7th of the year at 12:22. The second period ended with AIC up 3-2. UMass Lowell outshot the Yellow Jackets 13-5 in the second.

The game went into the third period and the River Hawks were 3-2-1 when trailing after two. AIC added to their lead within the first five minutes as Alexander Malinowski scored his eighth of the season as he put a wrist shot past Welsch. The assist went to Lindberg (two-point night) at 4:16. The Yellow Jackets were now up 4-2. The River Hawks had a chance to make it a one-goal game on the power play as Yellow Jacket’s Lindberg went off for holding at 7:36. The PP did register a shot during the two-minute advantage. With under ten to play Lowell had to find some offense. With under four to go, the River Hawks put some pressure on Wallstrom. Two shots from Nick Granowicz and one from Dillian Bentley were all stopped. However, Jack Stella made it a one-goal game as his shot rang off the post and behind Wallstrom for his second of the year at 17:39. The goal was unassisted. Lowell pulled Welsch for the extra attacker. The River Hawks were all around the Yellow Jackets net putting a couple of tight shots on net but Wallstrom was able to keep the puck out of his net. With 4.4 seconds left and the faceoff in the AIC zone, Lowell had one more chance. But Stella could not win the faceoff and the River Hawks lost 4-3 to AIC.

After the game, there was access from both teams. AIC head coach Eric Lange called it a “good road win” However he did think his team “took the foot off the gas pedal a little bit.” He thought his team’s performance with the lead was a B-minus. At one point, the Yellow Jackets had a 3-0 lead. Goalie Nils Wallstrom called it a “fun game” though his team was great in front of him. Alexander Malinowski said, “We played a pretty solid game.” When asked about the special teams play, he said “They have grown since the season has moved on.” For coach Bazin, he thought his team played well for 35 minutes. He was very happy with his team’s pushback in the second period. When asked about his team’s maturity level, he said he is not sure it’s where it should be. Lowell finished the game with a 37-20 shots-on-goal advantage. He thinks the team still has some growing to do in that area. UMass Lowell will head to Arizona to play an in-season tournament there. On Friday, they will take on Omanha in the semi-finals.