UMass Lowell Surges in Second Period to Hold Off Union, 5-4

A weekend of ECAC teams awaited UMass Lowell (3-8-0). Friday night, the Union College Garnet Chargers (5-5-0) came to the Tsongas Center trying to snap a two-game losing streak. They are in the middle of a four-game road trip, which ends on Saturday night at UNH. Meanwhile, the River Hawks had lost three in a row and seven of eight. The River Hawks are 12-6-1 vs. Union, though the Garnet Chargers had won the last three in a row. The last time these two met was back in March of 2012 in Bridgeport, Conn., in the NCAA East Regionals, which Union won to advance to the Frozen Four.

Lowell’s five losses at home were the most in the NCAA as the weekend started. They had not scored a goal in their building in the last 137:56 of game action, and they had also allowed 31 even-strength goals so far, fourth-most in the nation. The starting goalies for Friday night’s game were Brayden Gillespie (5-3-0, 2.84 GAA, .904 SV%) for Union and Austin Elliott (1-6-0, 4.15 GAA, .877 SV%) for the River Hawks. As was the case last Saturday at UNH, the River Hawks scored first, with Dalyn Wakely netting his third of the season at 10:06 on the power play. The goal stopped the goalless streak at home. The assists went to Libor Nemec, who made the pass that set up the goal, and Jak Vaarwerk. Wakely, who now has 12 points in 10-plus games, scored off a faceoff win in the Union zone and fired a one-timer past Gillespie to make it 1-0 UML. UMass Lowell would get a second PP, only this time Union would get the scoring chance. Cooper Sharp scored his first goal and point shorthanded at 14:16 from Troy Pelton, beating Elliott with a wrist shot from the right point to the glove side for a 1-1 tie. The first period ended tied at one. UML was 1-for-2 on the PP, while Union did not get a power play. Shots were 10-9 in favor of UML.

BIIIIIG dub to kick off the weekend 👊

RECAP🔗: https://t.co/A6pCDxqHVa

#UnitedInBlue | #HockeyEast https://t.co/6ustvzEHlz

— UMass Lowell Hockey (@RiverHawkHockey) November 14, 2026

The second period started 5-on-5. Union received an early PP that the River Hawks took care of. It was the 40th time shorthanded for UML, who have the second-most penalty minutes in Hockey East at 118. Soon after the kill, the River Hawks took the lead back at 3:32 on a goal from Nick Wellenreiter, his second of the year, on a backhand sweeping across the Union net. Sean Kilcullen and Joey McGraw had the assists to make it 2-1 UML. On the second PP for the River Hawks, Elliott came up big as he stopped a breakaway chance from Pelton. UML picked up another PP, their second of the period and third of the game. This one they cashed in on at 9:53, as Jacob MacDonald netted his seventh of the season with a wrist shot that beat Gillespie clean, set up by David Adaszynski and Vaarwerk (two-point night) for a 3-1 UML lead. They would add to the lead on a goal from Misha Volotovskii, his third of the season, at 13:32 from Chris Delaney and Kilcullen (two-point night). Kilcullen started the play with a headman pass to Delaney, who fed Misha as he broke in and scored. Now the floodgates were open as UML made it 5-1 on a goal from Libor Nemec, his second of the year, scoring the third PPG of the night at 15:04 from Wakely (1g, 1a) and Vaarwerk (3a). This was the best output by the River Hawks at home this season. The second period ended with UML up 5-1. Shots were 15-10 for UML in the period, and 25-18 for the River Hawks through two periods.

Union changed goalies for the third period, with Brendan Holahan taking over in the Union net. Gillespie stopped 20 of 25 shots. UML was 2-0-0 when leading after two periods, while Union was 9-3-0 when trailing after two. The Garnet Chargers cut it to a 5-2 game at 3:42 on a goal from Gavin Garry, his second of the year, from Nathan Free. Union would make it interesting by scoring a PPG at 9:11 when Free scored his seventh unassisted to make it 5-3 UML. The River Hawks kept taking penalties and would give up another PPG at 10:14, as Connor Smith’s sixth from Will Felton made this a 5-4 game. With 1:36 left, Union pulled their goalie for the extra skater, but it did not pay off. The River Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over Union.

Union head coach Josh Hauge was not happy with his team’s undisciplined second-period play, saying he thought the penalties his team took in that period “were unnecessary.” He was pleased with his team’s pushback in the third, adding, “We took care of the puck.” Coach Norm Bazin said, “It was a good hockey game,” noting that for the bulk of it his team was better. While the third period was not great, Bazin will take the win and the good first 40 minutes by his team. Union heads to UNH for a Saturday night game, while the River Hawks host RPI on Saturday for a 4 p.m. faceoff.