Oct. 8, 2010

Box Score

UMass Lowell was stunned by four first period Black Bear goals as the River Hawks fell, 8-2, in their season opener on Friday night.

The loss in Orono drops UMass Lowell to 0-1-0 in both conference and overall play to start the season. The win gives #7 Maine a 1-0-0 record.

The first period started poorly for the River Hawks as Maine wasted little time getting on the board. Off of a faceoff in the UMass Lowell zone, Mike Cornell (Franklin, Mass.) fired a shot that goaltender Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) stopped with the leg pad. The puck bounced in the crease and Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) moved untouched to the weak-side for an easy put back at 1:09.

The trend continued as just over four minutes later the Black Bears struck with another rebound score. Adam Shemansky (Robbinsville, N.J.) tapped in a Josh Van Dyk (Woodstock, Ont.) shot that was saved by Carr.

With the floodgates open, Maine continued its onslaught with a break-away goal at 11:38. Kyle Beattie (Avondale, Ariz.) took a pass from Mark Anthoine (Lewiston, Maine) in the neutral zone that got behind the River Hawk defense. Beattie put the shot over Carr's leg pad and inside the far post to put the Black Bears up 3-0.

Maine picked up one more score in the first period flurry at 13:36. With the puck in the River Hawks' offensive zone, Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) picked off Colin Wright's (Burlington, Ont.) pass. Diamond took off down the center of the ice and beat Carr between the legs for his first score of the season.

The Black Bears picked up where they left off, scoring two more goals in the second period. Diamond and Tanner House (Cochrane, Alta.) each found the net to extend Maine's lead to 6-0.

The River Hawks got on the board at 14:53. Maury Edwards (Rocky Rapids, Alta.) took a feed from Chris Ickert (Abbotsford, B.C.) at the far circle. Edwards' shot went wide, but Scott Campbell (Navan, Ont.) grabbed the puck behind the net, wrapped around the weak-side and snuck the puck under the goalie's pad.

Despite the breakthrough, Maine picked up two more scores from House and Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ont.) in the first two minutes of the third period.

With the game out of reach, Michael Budd (Burlington, Ont.) closed the scoring gap to 8-2 with a goal at 17:41. Campbell's shot was stopped, but Joe Caveney (Fitchburg, Mass.) and Budd muscled the puck through in a scrum in front of the net.

The River Hawks freshman duo in net let up four goals each. Carr (0-1-0) allowed four in the first period while making 12 saves. Marc Boulanger (Olds, Alta.) relieved Carr at the start of the second and stopped 22 of 26 shots.

UMass Lowell was outshot in the game, 22-42 and the River Hawks were 1-for-6 on the power play. Maine finished 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

With the game in the books, UMass Lowell will have the rest of the weekend off before traveling to New York for a pair of games against Niagara and RIT.