UMass Lowell Rallies in Third Period to Top RPI, 3-1, for Back-to-Back Wins

After a hang-on-by-your-seat win over Union Friday night, the UMass Lowell River Hawks looked to make it two in a row when they hosted RPI on Saturday afternoon. All-time, the River Hawks hold a 15-13-0 record vs. RPI, and they were also looking for their first two-game winning streak of the season. The Engineers were 1-4-1 on the road this season and trying to snap a two-game losing streak. Starting goalies were Cole Moore (1-2-0, 2.95 GAA, .971 SV%) for the River Hawks and Nate Krawchuk (3-4-1, 2.26 GAA, .929 SV%) for the Engineers.

The first period was a scoreless one. Each team had a power play to work with, and the River Hawks had a shot on goal during theirs when Libor Nemec took a cross-ice pass from right to left and put a shot on net that was stopped by Krawchuk. RPI’s man-advantage carried over to the second period. Shots were 9-7 in favor of RPI. The Engineers started the second period with 1:28 left on their power play, but UML killed it off, and the teams returned to 5-on-5. The game’s first goal was scored on the power play after River Hawks forward Nick Wellenreiter was called for tripping at 19:10. At 19:40, RPI scored as Filip Sitar netted his fifth of the season off a goalmouth scramble, with assists going to Ben Yurchuk and Rainers Rullers. RPI was now 1-for-3 on the man advantage, while UML was 0-for-2. Shots in the second were 7-6 in favor of RPI, bringing two-period totals to 24-19 in favor of RPI.

When trailing after two, UML is 0-6-0, and when the opponent scores the game’s first goal, UML is 1-6-0. The River Hawks tied the game at 7:53 off a wrist shot from Jacob MacDonald, his eighth of the season, from Kolin Sisson. MacDonald fired the shot from the half-wall on the right-wing side to make it a 1-1 game. To keep the tie, UML goalie Moore came up with a key save on a left-wing shot by RPI forward Harrison Lodewyk. UML would take their first lead of the night at 14:50. An offensive-zone faceoff won by Thomas Pitka was picked up by Chris Delaney, who fed Dominic Payne on the left point, and Payne fired a shot past Krawchuk short side for his first goal of the year to make it 2-1 UML. RPI then pulled their goalie with under two minutes left to try and tie the game, and UML got an empty-net goal from Libor Nemec to ice the game at 3-1 for their first come-from-behind win of the season. The assists went to Kuzma Voronin and Jak Vaarwerk. The River Hawks made it two in a row with a 3-1 win over RPI.

Three goals in the third and we got it DONE. What a weekend! 👏

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— UMass Lowell Hockey (@RiverHawkHockey) November 15, 2026

RPI head coach Eric Lang talked after the game about the team’s difficulties in finishing games. He said it was the second night in a row and the third time in four games that RPI had a lead in the third period and did not win. He pointed to 10 freshmen being on the team who are learning how to play Division I hockey. He praised his goaltender, Krawchuk, as one of the best and did not fault him on any of the goals.

Norm Bazin of UML was “happy with getting four points.” He thought the tying goal from MacDonald gave his team life that they carried through the rest of the game. He was also happy with his goalie, Cole Moore, who he said “was solid,” and gave a big thumbs-up to Thomas Pitka, who won the draw in the Engineers’ zone that led to the game-winning goal after missing Friday night’s game. UMass Lowell will be back at the Tsongas Center next weekend when they host Vermont.