UMass Lowell Gets 4-1 Win Over Minnesota-Duluth

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With 15 new faces on the team, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (1-1) looked for a weekend split with The University of Minnesota-Duluth (1-1) on Saturday night. A crowd of 3,701 came to Tsongas Center hoping to see win number one of the 2024-25 season. River Hawks nation was not disappointed as the River Hawks came away with a 4-1 victory.

After the game, UMass Lowell head coach Norm Bazin said he liked the effort of his team, calling it a “More complete effort.” For the most part, the River Hawks controlled the game outshooting the Bulldogs for the game by a 36-21 count. UMass Lowell was good on specialty teams netting two power-play goals in three tries while only allowing Minnesota-Duluth one power-play chance all night. Winning is a good thing and on Saturday night UMass Lowell got the job done.

Graduate senior Henry Welsch, who did not start the Friday night opener, got the call on Saturday night. While not really tested, he did stop 20 of 21 shots. The only one that got past him came in the third period when junior center Jack Smith scored his first of the season from Ty Hanson and Blake Bechen. Other than that, this one belonged to the home team.

It got started in the first period. After a quiet first ten minutes, UMass Lowell received the first power play chance of the night. Minnesota-Duluth left-wing Matthew Perkins went off for slashing at 11:42. Eight seconds later, the River Hawks had the game’s first goal. Scout Truman rifled home his first of the season. The assists went to Mirko Buttazoni and Nick Anderson at 11:50. It was a Buttazoni cross-ice pass from the left side to the right half wall that Truman collected and put past Bulldogs goalie Adam Gajan (32 saves on 36 shots). The PPG gave the River Hawks a 1-0 lead that they would take with them to the locker room. Shots in that period were 10-8 in favor of UML.

The River Hawks added to their lead in the second period. First, defenseman Ben Meeham took a right corner pass from Truman (G, A) and blasted one past Gajan from the left point just 50 seconds into the period. The goal was the first of the season for Meeham. At 6:21 they made it 3-0 when freshman Jacob MacDonald scored his first collegiate goal. Assists went to Jack Robilotti and Buttazoni (two-assist night). MacDonald tipped home a shot from Buttazoni. UMass Lowell made it 4-0 when they scored their second power-play goal of the night. Minnesota-Duluth center Dominic James went off for boarding at 7:06. Less than a minute later Jak Vaarwerk got his first of the year off of a goalmouth scramble. Assists went to Meeham (G, A) and Owen Cole.

There was a scary moment that took place with five minutes left in the second period. Bulldogs right wing Carter Loney was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for cross-checking River Hawks defenseman Isac Jonsson in front of the River Hawks net. Jonsson was helped back to his bench. He would return to the game.

Other than the Bulldogs goal, the third period was quiet. The River Hawks kept the period moving by chipping the puck in deep, forcing the Bulldogs to go back and get it. Minnesota-Duluth would have more offense zone time in the period. However, except for the goal, they did little with it. The River Hawks get the home weekend split and now will turn their attention to next weekend and a two-game set with the Colgate Red Raiders.