Dec. 4, 2009

 

Box Score

Audio Recap - The River Hawk Report - December 4, 2009

 

The eighth-ranked UMass Lowell River Hawks (8-5-1, 4-4-1 HE) continued their three-game skid with a 2-1 loss at New Hampshire (6-6-3, 6-2-2 HE) on Friday night. Senior Kory Falite (Billerica, MA) netted the lone score for UMass Lowell.

In a relatively quiet first period, the River Hawks maintained a well-played and controlled early stanza. UMass Lowell led in shots with an 11-9 edge, but was unable to get on the board despite several good looks at the net. A Riley Wetmore (Swanton, VT) tripping call close to the two minute mark was compounded by a hooking call on Ben Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, CO) to give the Wildcats the period's only power play chance. Despite the two-man advantage for New Hampshire, netminder Carter Hutton (Thunder Bay, Ont.) sealed off the crease to escape unscathed.

The scoreless tie was broken within two minute of the start of the second period. The Wildcats were still riding a man advantage from Holmstrom's penalty and Mike Silso (Superior, WI) was able to put in the rebound on Stevie Moses' (Leominster, MA) close-range shot.

UMass Lowell got even as time wound down on the second period. Falite broke out of the penalty box and cut off a pass in the defensive zone. The senior forward skated down the far boards on a give-and-go from Scott Campbell (Navan, Ont.) and took the shot from a tough angle that hit goalie Brian Foster's (Pembroke, NH) pads, then the post and bounced in.

New Hampshire reclaimed the lead just under seven minutes into the third period on a score by Blake Kessel (Verona, WI). On a River Hawk turnover in the defensive zone, Greg Burke (Lee, NH) executed a back-handed pass to Hutton's weak-side that Kessel knocked in to give the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage and ultimately the win.

Hutton was named Hockey East's second star on the night, stopping 32-of-34 shots by New Hampshire as he fell to 4-4-0. Foster collected 29 saves to improve to 6-6-3 for the Wildcats.

The River Hawks will look to snap the losing streak with some home cooking on Saturday night. The #9 Massachusetts Minutemen travel to Lowell for a 7 p.m. showdown.