Friday, October 28th at Omaha (8pm)
(Baxter, Arena; Omaha, Nebraska)
Watch Live ($) | Listen Live | Live Stats | Buy Tickets
Game Notes |  https://youtu.be/l8AZf8Pb1oMVideo Preview
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockey


Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: (WCAP 980AM)/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

Saturday, October 29th at Omaha (8pm)
(Baxter, Arena; Omaha, Nebraska)
Watch Live ($) | Listen Live | Live Stats | Buy Tickets
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockey


Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: (WCAP 980AM)/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell, with a 3-1-2 record, is ranked 5th in both the USA Hockey Magazine poll and the USCHO poll.  The team was picked for a fourth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll.  The Hockey team heads to Omaha, Nebraska after splitting a weekend against ECAC teams.  The River Hawks beat St. Lawrence, 5-2, before losing, 4-3, to Clarkson.  The River Hawk roster shows nine new faces including six forwards, one defensemen and two goalies.  The team does return its top two scorers in forwards CJ Smith (39-points) and Joe Gambardella (37-points).  That duo leads the 2016-17 edition of the River Hawks in scoring. Smith tops the charts with four goals and ten points, Gambardella is second with four goals and nine points.  The four goalies, including two freshmen, entered this season with a combined 99-minutes of collegiate experience.  Freshman Tyler Wall leads the foursome with a 1.91 GAA and a .927 save percentage.  UMass Lowell was 25-10-5 a year ago and is looking for its sixth consecutive 20-win season.
 
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS:  Omaha, with a 2-1-1 record, was picked to finish fifth in the NCHC pre-season Media poll.  The Mavericks took one of four points last weekend in a two game series against Vermont.  The two teams battled to a 4-4 tie in the opener, before Vermont won the finale, 5-2.  Eight players have scored goals, three have scored more than one.  Austin Ortega leads the team in with three goals, Tyler Vesel and Jake Randolph top the scoring list with five points.  Freshman Kris Oldham and sophomore Evan Weninger have each made two starts in net.  Oldham has a 2.42 GAA and a .902 save percentage; Weninger is 3.33/.868.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. OMAHA:  This is only the third meeting and the first since 2009 between the two schools in a series that dates back to 2000.  The Mavericks lead the all-time series, 2-0-0.  Both previous meetings between the two teams have been as a part of in-season tournaments.  Omaha won 5-2 at the Alabama Huntsville Shootout, in 2000, and more recently in the Championship Game of the 2009 IceBreaker Tournament.
 
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE:  UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USA Today poll, for 94 consecutive weeks.  The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013.  Of those 94 weeks more than half, 61, have been spent in the top ten.
 
THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT: UMass Lowell is first among Hockey East schools and second in the country in goals scored with 25 (4.17 goals per game).  Only Minnesota State has found the back of the net more often (26 goals).  The River Hawks have scored three of more goals in five of their six games this season.
 
SAME RECORD, DIFFERENT SONG: UMass Lowell at 3-1-2 has the same record it had through six games in the 2015-16 season, but that is where the similarities end.  At this point a year ago UMass Lowell had scored only 11 goals (1.83), this year the team has scored 25 (4.17).  A year ago UML had allowed only seven goals (1.17), this year the team has allowed 16 (2.67).  C.J. Smith lead the team with ten points, a year ago Evan Campbell topped the scoring with four points.  
 
GETTING OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: UMass Lowell has the second highest scoring defense corps in the country.  The River Hawks blue liners have combined for six goals and 22 points.  Those numbers are the best in Hockey East and trail only Minnesota State nationally.
 
WHO's NEXT: Next weekend, November 4 and 5, the River Hawks open up their Hockey East schedule hosting a pair of games, at the Tsongas Center, against Vermont. The River Hawks lead the all-time series 23-16-7 and are 5-0-1 in the last six meetings.  UMass Lowell swept the season series in Burlington a year ago.
 
QUICK START: UMass Lowell has scored 25 goals this season, nearly half of them have come in the first five-minutes of a period.  The River Hawks have scored 12 goals in the five-minutes of a period, the most in the country.  This year, UMass Lowell has scored goals in the first five minutes of 11 of 18 periods and eight of the last eleven.  The River Hawks have taken a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes in all six games they have played this year.
 
LAST WEEKEND:  UMass Lowell split a pair of games last weekend against a couple of teams from the ECAC.  John Edwardh and Joe Gambardella scored shorthanded second period goals to break a 2-2 tie and propel UMass Lowell to a 5-2 win over No. 12 St. Lawrence on Friday night.  C.J. Smith scored twice on Saturday, but it was not enough as the River Hawks were beaten by Clarkson.
 
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM:  UMass Lowell has more than held its own in non-conference play over the last five-plus years.  During that period of time the River Hawks have gone 40-14-5 (.720) against schools from other conferences.  A year ago UMass Lowell was 9-3-1 against non-conference opponents including a 3-1-1 record against NCHC schools.  The River Hawks chalked up wins against Colorado College and Minnesota Duluth last year and show a 2-0-2 record this season against those same opponents.  UMass Lowell is 7-2-2 all-time against teams representing the NCHC, but only 20-33-4 all-time against teams currently in the NCHC.
 
POWER PLAY: It's a small sample size but, UMass Lowell's power play is among the best in the country.  The River Hawks have scored ten goals in 36 man advantage opportunities for a 27.8% success rate, the fifth best in the country.  Six different players have scored with the man advantage; C.J. Smith has found the back of the net three times, Joe Gambardella and Mattias Goransson have two PP goals each.
 
PENALTY KILL: UMass Lowell penalty killing unit has killed off 18 of the last 20 man-down situations (90.0%) and has scored two short-handed goals during that more than four game period of time. On the season the PK unit is 36-for-42, 85.7%.
 
TWO SHORTIES; A LONG TIME IN COMING: When UMass Lowell scored a pair of short-handed goals in last night's 5-2 win against St. Lawrence it was the first time in nearly eight years that the River Hawks had more than one short-handed goal in a game.  The last time it happened was on February 13, 2009 when Nick Schaus and Nick Monroe scored short-handed in a 6-0 victory at Boston College.
 
CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell dominated in the faceoff circle during the opening three weeks of the season winning 275 of 498 puck drops.  The .552 faceoff winning percentage is the sixth best in the nation.  Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 86 of 136, .632. Ryan Lohin (50 of 86, .581) and Evan Campbell (37 of 69, .536), and are also above the .500 mark.  Nick Master (54 of 118, .458) is just below an even split.  Omaha has been solid in the faceoff circle winning 52.2% of all draws.
 
UNFORTUNATE FIRST: When UMass Lowell lost, on Saturday night, to Clarkson, 4-3, it was the first time since Norm Bazin became the head coach that the River Hawks lost a home game at the Tsongas Center in which they held a two-goal lead at any point in the contest.  During that five-plus year stretch the River Hawks are 50-1-3 at home when holding a two-goal at any point in the game.
 
ONE LOSS: UMass Lowell, at 3-1-2, is the one of six teams in the country with just one loss through six games.  The River Hawks were the last team in Hockey East to remain undefeated.  The team's first loss came in game number six. 
 
GOOD START: The five game unbeaten streak to start the season was the school's second longest unbeaten streak at the start a season.  The 3-0-2 start matched both 1995-96 and last year's start.  Only the 5-0-1 start in 1993-94 saw the team go deeper into the season without suffering its first loss.
 
PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through six games, UMass Lowell has played from behind for just 14:05 and only in portions of two games.  UMass Lowell has held the lead for 291:03 of the 370-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.
 
WHEN RANKED TEAMS VISIT: UMass Lowell is unbeaten, at the Tsongas Center, in their last thirteen games (8-0-5) against nationally ranked teams.  The streak is their longest since the USCHO poll began in 1997. Their last home loss to a ranked team on Feb. 6, 2015, when they were beaten by third ranked BU, 5-2.  The River Hawks opened this season with two ties against fifth ranked Minnesota Duluth and knocked off no. 12 St. Lawrence last Friday night, 5-2.
 
WEIGHING IN: UMass Lowell is the eighth biggest team in the nation based on weight.  The River Hawks tip the scales at 193.67 pounds.  Western Michigan at 198.63 pounds is the heaviest team in the country.

THE LEADERSHIP: Senior defenseman Michael Kapla has been chosen to wear the "C", as Captain, on the front of his jersey.  The River Hawk leadership team also includes Alternate Captains senior center Joe Gambardella and junior defenseman Tyler Mueller.
 
IRON MAN:  UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has played in 126 consecutive games, the most of any active player in college hockey.  Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career.
 
100 Games and Counting:  UMass Lowell senior center Evan Campbell became the fourth member of the River Hawk team to have played in 100 games when he skated last S aturday against Clarkson.  Campbell enters tonight's game with 26 goals and 52 points in those 100 games.  Michael Kapla (126), Joe Gambardella (115) and Dylan Zink (108) have all surpassed the century mark.