Huskies Complete Sweep With 8–2 Rout of UMass Lowell

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On Saturday night, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (12–20–0, 8–14–0) looked to salvage a weekend split against the Northeastern Huskies (15–15–1, 10–11–0). However, before a crowd of 5,134 at the Tsongas Center, the River Hawks’ home-ice struggles continued as they fell in a lopsided 8–2 defeat. The loss drops Lowell’s record at the Tsongas Center to a staggering 3–11 this season.

First Period: A Quick Collapse

The Huskies wasted no time dismantling the River Hawks’ defense, using pinpoint stretch passes to create odd-man rushes.

1:03: Eli Sebastian opened the scoring just over a minute in, assisted by Amine Hajibi.
1:53: Less than a minute later, Joe Connors netted his 11th of the year from Tyler Fukamusa and Dylan Finlay to make it 2–0.
Mid-Period: Noah Jones pushed the lead to 3–0 with his second goal of the season, again assisted by Hajibi.

Starting goaltender Samuel Richard was pulled after allowing three goals on just five shots. Austin Elliott entered in relief, making 10 saves on 15 shots to close out a period that saw Lowell lead in shots (14–6) but trail significantly on the scoreboard.

Second Period: The Long Climb

Lowell attempted to claw back into the game, but the Huskies’ transition game remained lethal. At 8:29, Dylan Compton fired a wrist shot from the right wing to extend the lead to 4–0.

The River Hawks finally broke through on the power play when TJ Schweighardt beat Lawton Zacher with a blast from the left point for his fourth goal of the year, assisted by Chris Delaney and Lee Parks. Despite a massive 26–10 shot advantage through two periods, the River Hawks went into the locker room trailing 4–1.

Third Period: Huskies Run Away

The final frame was all Northeastern, as the Huskies added four more goals to put the game completely out of reach. A late goal from Lee Parks (1G, 1A) provided the only other highlight for the home crowd.

Historic Defeat: This marked the first time since October 2014 (an 8–4 loss to Michigan) that UMass Lowell has surrendered eight goals in a single game at the Tsongas Center.
Standout Performers: Tyler Funakusa and Amine Hajibi (3 assists) anchored the Huskies’ offense, while Joe Connors finished with a goal and an assist.

Coaches’ Corner

Jerry Keefe (Northeastern): Despite the sweep, Keefe noted that his team “still had things to work on,” specifically pointing to the offensive-zone time allowed to Lowell. However, he praised the execution of the stretch passes that defined the early lead.
Norm Bazin (UMass Lowell): A disappointed Bazin admitted he “did not see this coming” after a more disciplined Friday night performance. He credited Northeastern’s ability to stretch his defense but expressed deep frustration with his team’s back-end execution.