UMass Lowell defeats Colgate 5-2

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On Friday night, the UMass Lowell River Hawks hosted the Colgate Raiders in non-league hockey before a crowd of 3,703. These two schools are very familiar with each other having played 24 times prior to this weekend. UMass Lowell has a 15-8-1 all-time record vs the Raiders. For the fifth year in a row and the sixth time in the last seven years, the River Hawks are 1-1 to start their season.

The starting goalies for Friday night’s game were, Andrew Takacs (1-1-0, 4.54 GAA) for Colgate and for the River Hawks Henry Welsch (1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .952%). The first five minutes of the period saw the River Hawks get two great chances off of Colgate giveaways in their own zone. They held an early 5-2 shots advantage. The game’s first penalty went to UMass Lowell as Isac Jonsson went off for holding at 6:01. The Raiders did very little with it. A more serious opportunity came at 8:59. Colgate winger Jack Brandt was given a major penalty for grabbing the face mask. The River Hawks also received a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct that was served by Libor Nemec. They started 4-on-4 and the game’s first goal came off of it. Antonio Fernandez, who was stopped by Welsch early on, got a second chance off a pass from Simon Labelle and put one past Welsch for a 1-0 Colgate lead. The goal was Fernandez’s third of the season. UMass Lowell would get on the power play and convert as Owen Cole scored his first of the season assisted by Jonsson and Jak Vaarwerk at 10:45. The power-play goal was the team’s third of the young season.

At 17:53, UMass Lowell took the lead on a goal by Mitchell Becker assisted by Vaarwerk. Becker’s goal was his first of the year as he rifled a wrist shot past Takacs (29 saves on 34 shots) from the high slot. The first period ended with UMass Lowell up 2-1. Shots in the period were 14-7 in favor of the River Hawks.

The second period started with even strength for both sides. UMass Lowell thought they had made it 3-1, but the goal was called back because of a man in the crease. However, the River Hawks did make it 3-1 at 6:01 of the period as Scout Truman got his second of the year off a nice behind-the-back pass from Connor Eddy along the left wing boards. He found Truman between the circles and Truman fired a shot high left side above the blocker. A hooking penalty to Colgate’s winger Jake Schneider at 14:59 allowed the River Hawks to go back on the power play. At 15:14, they converted their second power-play goal of the night and their fourth of the season. Chris Delaney with his third of the year from Nemec, and Mirko Buttazzoni made it 4-1 UMass Lowell. The second period ended with the River Hawks up by three. Shots in the period saw UMass Lowell with 13, and Colgate had 5. The two-period total was UMass Lowell with 27, and Colgate with 12.

The third period got started with the River Hawks and Raiders playing 4-on-4 hockey as Eddy and Ryan Sullivan were sent off. Seconds later, Colgate went on the power play as Ben Meehan went off for tripping at 26 seconds. Colgate head coach Mike Harder pulled his goalie. The River Hawks made them pay for that decision. Pierson Brandon scored a shorthanded goal from just inside the River Hawks blueline. The goal came at 1:53 of the third and gave UML a 5-1 lead. Colgate cut the lead to 5-2 when Brett Chorske, off a 2-on-1, beat Welsch (22 saves on 24 shots) between the legs for his first of the year. The assist went to Max Nagel. The Raiders’ second goal of the night came at 12:52.

The River Hawks would close out the game and pick up their second straight win 5-2 over Colgate. Only one River Hawks player had a multi-point night and that was Vaarwerk with two assists. UMass special teams had a good night with two power-play goals and one shorthand tally. Head coach Norm Bazin thought it was a highlight of the game, along with the energy of his team. Colegate’s Mike Harder was “not to stress about his special teams.” He thought the River Hawks were a little too experienced for his group. tonight, the two teams meet again and puck drop is at 6 PM.