UNH Defeats UMass Lowell 4-1 on Senior Night

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Friday night was a special night for several members of the UMass Lowell men’s hockey team. It was senior night and a full house was set to wish these players well and thank them for their time with the program. However, an important hockey game had to be played vs the UNH Wildcats which had a playoff scenario written all over it

Since the team returned from Palm Springs, UML has gone 3-9-2. The breathing space the team once had is almost gone. With this being the final weekend of league play, winning games is all that matters now. Friday’s night starting goalies were Rico DiMatteo (0-4-1, 3.14 GAA, .885%) for the Wildcats and for the River Hawks, it was Henry Welsch (10-6-1,2.42 GAA, 901%).

It would take all of 5:31 for the Wildcats to strike first. Connor Lovett got his fifth of the year off a sweet pass from Connor Sweeney giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Colton Huard also assisted on the goal. The first penalty of the game came at 15:39 as Sweeney of UNH went off for hooking. UMass Lowell came into the game with a 21.8% power play average. The Wildcats were at 84.6% on the penalty kill. The Wildcats took care of the River Hawks PP and went on their first power play in the final minute of the period. UML’s defenseman Mitchell Becker went off for hooking at 19:37. That power play carried over to the second period. Shots in the first were 13 for UNH and five for UML.

UNH started the second with 1:37 left on their power play. The Wildcat PP was at 20.9% and the River Hawks’s penalty kill was at 80%. The River Hawks killed off the penalty and each team was now 0-1 on the power play. UNH got a second chance on the PP as Chris Delaney went off for unsportsmanlike conduct at 2:32. An unnecessary hit on an icing call put Delaney in the box. The Wildcats were now 0-2 after UML took care of the second PK. With under ten minutes left in the second period, the Wildcats made it 2-0 on a goal from Robert Cronin, his 14th of the year. He would take the puck at the UML blue line, skate in between the circles, and beat Welsch (31 saves on 35 shots) over the glove at 10:21. Cy Leclerc and Morgan Winters picked up the assists.

It would go from bad to worse. Brendan Fitzerald with his first of the year at 14:03. Ryan Conmy picked up the lone assist. With four minutes left in the second period, the River Hawks had only two shots on goal. UNH went back on the power play for the third time as Mitchell Becker went off for slashing at 16:19. The only good news for UML was their penalty killing. They made it three for three in that department, with another kill of a Wildcat power play. The second period came to an end with UNH up 3-0. Shots in the second were 12 for UNH and 3 for UML. Through two periods UNH had a 25-8 advantage.

Needless to say, UMass Lowell had plenty of work to do in the third period. At the 4:03 mark, UNH’s defenseman Brendan Fitzgerald went off for slashing. UML needed a power-play goal in the worst way. Instead, UML would get only one shot on net during the PP. They had nine shots on net through 6:23 seconds of the third. UML’s Delaney went off for the second time in the game for roughing at 6:23. The River Hawks killed it off and UNH was now 0-4 on the man advantage. UML was 0-2. UML got to 10 shots on goal with 9:58 left in the game. Connor Eddy with the tenth shot on goal.

At 15:39, the River Hawks stopped the shutout bid by DiMatteo when Libor Nemec hit paydirt with a wrist shot that found the back of the net for his 6th of the season. Lee Parks and Delaney got the assists and it was now a 3-1 game. UML pulled Welsch with 2:48 left in the game for the extra skater. With 2:01 left the River Hawks called time to figure something out. The Wildcats would wrap up the game with their first PP goal of the night as Nick Ring got his 9th of the year at 19:44. The assist went to Winters (2 Assists) and JP Turner.

UNH coach Mike Souza called it the “Most complete game we have played.” He called it a “sigh of relief” and credited his netminder DiMatteo with “Making the saves he needed to make.” For UML coach Norm Bazin, it was quick. He said, “Only one team showed up tonight and it wasn’t us.” With the playoffs around the corner, he also stated “We have to find our game soon.”

On Saturday night, UML visits New Hampshire for the season finale. Then, it is on to the Hockey East Playoffs on Wednesday night.