River Hawks Clipped by No. 14/12 Massachusetts in Overtime, 4-3

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AMHERST, Mass. – Freshman Jak Vaarwerk (Clarence, N.Y.) scored two goals, as the UMass Lowell River Hawks ice hockey team (8-21-4, 4-15-3 Hockey East) fell just short against No. 14/12 Massachusetts (19-10-3, 12-8-2 Hockey East) in overtime, 4-3.

Vaarwerk’s goals were both unassisted, and junior Isac Jonsson (Ängelholm, Sweden) joined him in the scoring department with a second-period goal, assisted by sophomore Dillan Bentley (Peoria, Ill.) and senior Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.). Defensively, 13 skaters blocked at least one shot for the River Hawks, as sophomore Scout Truman (Lethbridge, Alberta) led the way with three. Seven different players collected two blocks, while five picked up one. Junior Luke Pavicich (Clarence Center, N.Y.) got the nod between the pipes for the River Hawks, making 35 saves.

The first period was action-packed, as Vaarwerk collected his pair of goals just 1:04 apart from each other after the Minutemen opened the scoring earlier in the period. His first came at the 13:33 mark when a Massachusetts skater flicked the puck right to Vaarwerk in front of the net before he sent it past Minutemen goalie Michael Hrabal to tie the game at one. Not long after, Vaarwerk capitalized on another Massachusetts miscue, collecting the puck near the blue line, and quickly sending a wrister to the back of the net. Pavicich and the River Hawks’ defensive unit blanked the Minutemen for the remainder of the period to bring their one-goal lead to the locker room.

In the second, the River Hawks responded well to an early Massachusetts goal at the one-minute mark. Despite the goal and getting outshot 15-10 in the period, UMass Lowell was able to capitalize on a man advantage, as Jonsson sniped one past Hrabal on a power play at 11:57. Meehan got the sequence started with the initial pass to Bentley, who fed Jonsson to pick up the primary assist. After Massachusetts gained some momentum throughout the remainder of the period, Pavicich once again came up big, making 12 saves in the final eight minutes to keep the River Hawks up one heading into the third.

The Minutemen kept the pressure on in the third, and the River Hawks were able to keep their offense at bay until a Massachusetts goal tied it up at the 9:22 mark of the period. Toward the end of the period, graduate student Filip Fornåå Svensson (Linköping, Sweden) had a few scoring opportunities around the net, but they were just saved, bringing the two squads to overtime for the second consecutive night.

During the overtime period, the River Hawks were called for a hooking penalty, giving Massachusetts a 4-on-3 man advantage. To begin the penalty kill, the River Hawks defended well, as Pavicich made three saves and senior Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.) blocked a shot, but a Ryan Ufko goal at the 2:44 mark concluded the game with a 4-3 final score.

Next up, the River Hawks will close out the regular season with a two-game, home-and-home series with New Hampshire. Game one will be Senior Night for the River Hawks at the Tsongas Center and will start at 7:05 p.m., while Saturday’s game two at New Hampshire is set for 7:30 p.m. Both games will be airing on NESN.