UMass Lowell Bounces Back with 4-2 Victory Over St. Lawrence for First Win of Season

LOWELL, Mass. — On Saturday afternoon at the Tsongas Center, the UMass Lowell River Hawks rebounded from an opening-night loss to Clarkson, earning a 4-2 victory over the St. Lawrence Saints to secure a weekend split. The Saints dropped to 0-3-0 on the young season, while UMass Lowell improved its all-time series record against St. Lawrence to 18-9-1 with its fifth consecutive victory over the Saints. Starting goaltender Austin Elliott made his second straight start in net for the River Hawks, while Colin Winn got the nod for St. Lawrence.

First Period: River Hawks Build Early Momentum

UMass Lowell took control early, capitalizing on its first power-play opportunity of the afternoon. After St. Lawrence was whistled for a penalty at 3:29, Jak Vaarwerk opened the scoring at 3:54, wiring a shot home from the right wing off passes from Anthony Dowd and Kolin Sisson to put UML ahead 1-0.

The River Hawks doubled their advantage at 9:43 on Cole Lonsdale’s first career collegiate goal. Lonsdale beat Winn to the far post from the left circle, with Sean Kilcullen recording the lone assist. UMass Lowell dominated the opening 20 minutes in both offensive zone time and shot volume, carrying a 15-4 shots-on-goal advantage into the first intermission.

Second Period: Stewart Extends Lead at 4-on-4

The first ten minutes of the second period saw power-play chances for both squads, though neither team managed to convert. Despite UMass Lowell maintaining a heavy shot advantage, St. Lawrence kept the deficit at two until late in the frame.

Playing four-on-four hockey at the 13:38 mark, River Hawks defenseman Thomas Stewart netted his first collegiate goal, snapping a shot from the low slot past Winn to stretch the lead to 3-0. Nate Misskey and Kuzma Voronin set up the play to pick up the assists. UMass Lowell outshot St. Lawrence 9-5 in the middle period, expanding its two-period shot advantage to 24-9 while continuing to control zone time.

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Third Period: Saints Rally Before MacDonald Closes It Out

Early in the third period, UMass Lowell received a prime opportunity to break the game open when St. Lawrence forward James Fisher was assessed a five-minute major penalty just 35 seconds into the frame. However, the best scoring chance during the man-advantage belonged to the Saints, as Isaac Tremblay gathered a pass at center ice for a breakaway, only to be turned away by Elliott’s blocker.

Buoyed by the major penalty kill, St. Lawrence built momentum and cut into the lead on a power play at 6:33. Nicholas Beneteau beat Elliott off assists from Gabe Westling and Andrew Brown, making it a 3-1 game and bringing the Saints to 1-for-5 on the power play. UMass Lowell later earned another man-advantage but failed to convert, finishing 1-for-6 on the power play for the afternoon.

At even strength, UMass Lowell restored its three-goal cushion at 14:46. Voronin circled behind the St. Lawrence net and set up Jacob MacDonald in the low slot, who beat Winn to make it 4-1; Misskey picked up his second assist of the afternoon on the play.

St. Lawrence pulled Winn for an extra attacker following a timeout with 2:37 remaining and capitalized with 1:51 left in the game when Ihnat Pazii scored off a pass from Luke Posthumus to bring the Saints within two. That was as close as St. Lawrence would get, as the River Hawks closed out the 4-2 victory to claim their first win of the 2026-27 campaign.

Postgame Reactions

St. Lawrence assistant head coach Tommy Hill expressed frustration postgame regarding his team’s lack of discipline throughout the game and the weekend. Hill cited the team’s low shot total as a primary concern that will be addressed during practice over the coming week. While praising the energy gained from killing off the third-period major penalty, he noted that the 60-minute effort was not where it needed to be.

UMass Lowell head coach Norm Bazin expressed satisfaction with earning the first home win of the season and praised his team’s execution through the first 40 minutes. While acknowledging that the River Hawks got “a little loose” defensively in the third period, Bazin felt there were far more positive takeaways than negatives from the opening weekend. Bazin singled out Cole Lonsdale for his high work ethic, which paid off with his first-period goal.

Up Next

UMass Lowell turns its attention to Homecoming Weekend at the Tsongas Center, where the River Hawks will host a two-game series against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday and Saturday nights.