
After a lackluster performance on Friday night against the #1 ranked Boston College Eagles on the road, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (14-8-3, 7-6-2) returned to Tsongas Center before a crowd of 6,006 to meet their rival from up the road, the Merrimack College Warriors (10-15-1, 6-9-1). It was an important game for both since only two points in the standings separated them.
These two teams met back in October in North Andover, with the River Hawks taking a 6-3 victory. All-time, UMass Lowell is 85-45-13. River Hawk defenseman Isac Johnson is a +8 in seven games played vs the Warriors (1G, 4 A).
The starting goalies for Saturday’s night game were Max Lundgren (4-5-0, 3.24 GAA, 881%) for Merrimack. For the River Hawks, it was Beni Halasz (4-4-2, 2.17 GAA, 922%). The first period took a while to get going and the Warriors had two power-play chances in the final ten minutes of the period. They came into Saturday’s game with a PP percentage of 19.7 but the River Hawks took care of both penalty-killing opportunities. The River Hawks came into this game with an 80% kill rate. In the final minute of the period, UMass Lowell scored the game’s first goal. Jak Vaarwerk notched his fourth of the season from Mitchell Becker at 19:03 to give UML a 1-0 lead. Vaarwerk beat Lundgren with a wicked shot to the far right side. Shots were even in the period at 6-6.
The second period started with back-to-back power play chances for UML. Their power play was at 24.6%. The first penalty was taken care of by the Merrimack penalty-killing unit (71.8%). The second one was a different story. A clearing pass by the Warriors into the River Hawks zone forced Halasz to make a decision that he would regret. In trying to chase down the puck, Halasz went too far away from his net. He tried to put the puck behind his net only to have it taken away by Merrimack’s Caelan Fitzpatrick who found Luke Weilandt in the front of a wide-open net. Weilandt put the puck into the net for his first of the year at 3:25. The goal was shorthanded, the team’s first of the year.
UML retook the lead at the 8:29 mark when Lee Parks got his 5th of the year from Ben Meeham and Ian Carpentier to retake the lead at 2-1. The Warriors tied the game at 2-2 on a Ryan O’Connell goal from the left wing side as he roofed one by Halasz (16 saves on 18 shots). The goal was his first of the season at 11:22 and was assisted by Ivan Zivlak. The period ended at 2-2. Shots were 12-7 in favor of UML. For two periods it was 18-13 in favor of UMass Lowell.
The third period was a big one for both teams as they continued to try to move up the standings. It would take the River Hawks less than two minutes to get the lead back. With pressure on in the Warriors zone, Jack Robilotti beat Lungren from just inside the blue line with a slap shot at 1:57. Owen Cole and Johnsson got the assists. It was good work behind the Merrimack net by Cole who tried to set up Johnsson and instead found Robilotti who put UML back in the lead.
With less than five minutes left the River Hawks still had a one-goal lead at 3-2. It was becoming decision time for Merrimack head coach Scott Burek on when to pull his goalie. That answer came with 1:54 left as Lundgren (32 saves on 35 shots) was pulled for the extra attacker. Merrimack called timeout with 1:39 left to set up an offensive zone faceoff. UML would do the same to set up their defensive zone assignments. The River Hawks center icemen did a great job of winning faceoffs in their own zone and clearing the puck away. Because of that, the River Hawks came away with a 3-2 win. Shots in the third were 17-5 in favor of UML and for the game, it was 35-18 Lowell.
After the game, Merrimack coach Scott Borek, whillie disappointed with the result, called it a “grind of a game.” He did think his team played too often in their own zone. Borek credited his goalie Lundgren with “giving us a chance to win the game.” Norm Bazin of the River Hawks called it a “challenging game.” He really liked the way his “D-core played.” He singled out Vaarwerk for his performance in the faceoff circle (10-5, 66.7%). The three points the River Hawks got for the win puts them a point behind UConn for fourth place in Hockey East. Next Friday night, the River Hawks return to Tsongas Center to face Vermont.
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