Minutemen defeat River Hawks, 5-3

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The battle for the Kennedy Cup continued on the ice at Tsongas Center before a crowd of 6,552 on Saturday night. The UMass Minutemen (18-12-4, 9-9-4) took on the UMass Lowell River Hawks (15-13-4, 8-11-3). The two teams met last Thursday playing to a 2-2 tie, although the Minutemen would take the extra point in a shootout. Both teams came in looking for all important points in the standings with just one weekend left in the regular season.

The starting goalies for Saturday night’s game were Beni Halasz (5-6-3, 2.44 GAA, .913% for the River Hawks) and for the Minutemen, it was Michael Hrabal (15-10-4, 2.41 GAA, .925%). It would take all of 4:34 for the Minutemen to grab control of this game. First, Aydar Suniev scored his 17th of the year at 1:04 from Larry Keenan and Daniel Jenčko. Then, the River Hawks’ Nick Anderson took the game’s final penalty for hooking at 4:03. Thirty seconds later, RW Cole O’Hara made it 2-0 Minutemen with his 20th of the season on the PP from Suniev and Jack Musa. Needless to say, it was not the start the River Hawks were looking for.

As shaky as the first four and a half minutes were for the River Hawks, they were able to settle the game down for the rest of the period. They would outshoot the Minutemen by a 10-5 margin. However, they were not able to put a puck past Hrabal and went to the locker room down 2-0.

The second period started with the River Hawks being short-handed for the second time in the game. TJ Schweighardt went off for tripping at 57 seconds. The Minutemen would get three shots on goal and now were 1-for-2 on the man advantage. Halasz’s best save of the night came at 4:55 when he stopped a point-blank shot from Francesco Dell’Elce. The River Hawks got their first chance on the power play at 8:52 when Suniev went off for slashing. UML’s power play was at 21.7% and the Minutemen PK was at 83.8%. The River Hawks would cash in at 10:26 on a deflection by Lee Parks, his seventh of the year. He tipped in a point shot from Nick Anderson. Chris Delaney got the other assist and it was now a 2-1 game.

Halasz made another great save on a breakaway attempt by Owen Murray as he weaved his way through the River Hawks defense to get a shot on net that was stopped by Halasz. The River Hawks would get another PP chance at 18:57 when a boarding call was made on the Minutemen Dans Locmelis. That PP carried over to the third period. Shots were 14-6 in favor of the Minutemen. 20-19 UMl over two periods.

57 seconds of carry-over power play time awaited the River Hawks as the third period got started. The Minutemen killed off what was left of the PP with eighteen minutes left trying to hold a one-goal lead. That became a two-goal lead on a rising shot from the left wing half wall from Jack Musa (G, A), his 16th of the year at 4:23 of the third. Assists went to Lucas Mercuri and Dell’Elce. The Minutemen were now up 3-1. UMass Lowell got that goal back on another tip in front. This one from Libor Nemec at 6:19, his fifth of the year. The assists went to the defense pair of Isac Johnsson and Jack Robilotti. It was now back to a one-goal game at 3-2. The River Hawks kept the pressure on and tied the game on a goal from the captain Owen Cole, his eighth of the year from Connor Eddy and Ben Meeham. With eleven minutes left it was a new hockey game at 3-3.

Back came the Minutemen as Kenny Connors came down the right wing side and beat Halasz over the shoulder for his ninth of the year at 10:55. Assists went to Ryan Lautenback and Connors (1G,1A) It was now a 4-3 Minutemen lead with under nine minutes left. The River Hawks almost tied the game again but a great stop by Hrabal on a wrap-around chance by Jak Vaarwerk. With under three minutes left, it was starting to become decision time for coach Norm Bazin as to when to pull his goalie. With 2:06 left the River Hawks called a timeout and Halasz was pulled with 1:46 left. It was now 6-on-5. On an ensuing faceoff in the Minutemen zone, Murray nothced his fifth of the year from 180 feet. It was now 5-3 Minutemen and that’s how the game would end.

Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel was proud of his team taking five of six points on the weekend. He called Tsongas Center “A tough place to play and win in.” The win tonight makes him the winningest coach in Minutemen history. UMass Lowell head coach Norm Bazin was happy with his team’s push in the third. He thought his team was “the better team in the 3rd.”

The River Hawks have one last weekend in the regular season before playoffs begin. Next weekend, the UNH Wildcats are at Tsongas Center on Friday night before the season finale at the Whittemore Center on Saturday night.