UMass Lowell wins in OT, 3-2 over UNH

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On Wednesday night, the playoffs got started in Hockey East. For the second straight season, the UNH Wildcats opened up against the UMass Lowell River Hawks in the first round. Last season, it was the Wildcats that advanced; Wednesday might be different. The River Hawks finished the 2024-25 year with a 3-11-2 record. They lost their last two games, both to the Wildcats last weekend. UNH, on the other hand, was 3-10-3 over the same time frame.

Rico DiMatteo (2-0-1, 2.47 GAA, .905%) started in goal for UNH. He won both games for UNH last weekend vs UML. Henry Welsch (10-7-1, 2.51 GAA, .900%) got the start in net for the River Hawks. The Wildcats received a quick first-period power play as Jak Vaarwerk of UMass Lowell was sent off. In the regular season, the Wildcats’ PP was at 21.1% and the River Hawks’s penalty killing was at 84.9%. The best scoring chances went to the River Hawks as Scout Truman found himself going in all alone on DiMatteo from the right-wing side but his shot was stopped by the goaltender.

At even strength, the River Hawks scored first when Chris Delaney got his ninth goal of the season off an offensive zone faceoff. He picked up a loose puck and beat DiMatteo above the glove shoulder for a 1-0 River Hawks lead at 9:33. Mirko Buttazzoni got the lone assist. UML got off to a badly needed good start but UNH would come right back less than a minute later with the tying goal. Off a cross-ice feed, Cy Leclerc beat Welsch to the short side at 10:58. The assists went to Luke Reid and Morgan Winters. The goal for Leclerc was his ninth of the year. The Wildcats went back on the PP and this time converted when Robert Cronin notched his 17th of the year at 12:27. Ryan Conmy and Leclerc got the assists. Leclerc was already working on a multi-point night. The period came to an end with New Hampshire up 2-1 on UMass Lowell. Shots in the first were UNH 10 and UML 9.

The second period started at even strength and the River Hawks picked up a power play chance when Liam Devlin of UNH went off for tripping at 1:05. UML’s PP was at 20.9% and the Wildcats penalty kill was at 79.9%. UNH took care of it and the River Hawks were 0-1 on the man advantage. The River Hawks evened the game at 11:23 on a beauty of a goal by Matt Crasa as he came down the right wing side and roofed one past DiMatteo. Defensemen Jack Robilotti and TJ Schvveighardt got the assists on Crasa’s 5th of the year. The game was tied at 2-2.

Late in the second period, the Wildcats picked up a silly unsportsmanlike penalty at 16:28 and Winters was the guilty party. The ensuing power play had some moments associated with it. A 2-on-1 for the Wildcats gave Nick Ring a great chance for Welsch to make his best save of the game by sliding across from left to right to get a pad on it. The period ended 2-2, Shots in the period were 15 for UMass Lowell for a two-period total of 24. UNH had 7 for a two-period total of 19.

It was now a twenty-minute game to see who would move on to the quarterfinals. Six minutes into the third, the game was still tied. UNH got a break when Connor Eddy went off for tripping at 6:31. UNH was 1-for-2 so far on the PP but would hit the post on the power play but that was it. With 11 minutes to go, one play was all that separated these teams. UML was starting to pile up the shots on goal but they could not get one past DiMatteo. The period would end tied at 2-2. Shots in the third were 11 for UNH, 24 through three. UML had 18 for a three-period total of 37.

Now it was on to overtime and the next goal would determine the winner. The River Hawks had an early chance when Crasa was sent in all alone to be stopped by DiMatteo. However, the River Hawks kept coming. Scout Truman, who Coach Bazin thought was “a little shake bitten” came down the left wing side and beat DiMatteo at 3:38. The goal was his 10th of the year and was unassisted. The River Hawks win in OT by a 3-2 score.

UNH coach Mike Soucy “thought the better team won on Wednesday night. He praised the 12 seniors on his team by saying “it was a pleasure to coach them.” UML’s Norm Bazin was happy to open up with a win. He thought his team got better as the game went along. With the win, the River Hawks will now head to Maine to meet the Black Bears on Saturday night.