Feb. 19, 2010

Box Score

In an up-and-down night, the River Hawks (15-14-2, 9-11-2 HE) fell to Maine (15-11-3, 12-8-2 HE) in the Alfond Arena on Friday, 8-4. Through the first two periods, UMass Lowell led in both shots on goal and face-offs.

The Black Bears wasted no time securing an early lead on a goal by Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, MA) at 4:20 into regulation. Tanner House's (Cochrane, Alta.) shot was saved on the far side, but the rebound took an odd bounce and landed in the lap of Flynn for an easy put back.

Flynn struck again a few minutes later with his second goal of the game at 12:32 into the first. House sent a pass from behind the net to Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, CO) in the slot for a quick shot. Dimmen's shot was blocked immediately, but the puck knuckled its way to the weak side for Flynn to clean up again. Flynn's pair of goals granted the Black Bears a 2-0 lead.

The River Hawks finally answered back just over a minute later on Michael Budd's (Burlington, Ont.) fourth goal of the year. Riley Wetmore (Swanton, VT) picked Maine's pocket near the blue line as the Black Bears tried to clear the zone. Wetmore's pass to Jonathan Maniff (Revere, MA) lead him towards the net for a back-handed shot that was saved by Scott Darling (Lemont, IL). On the rebound, Budd stormed through the zone and knocked the puck into the mesh to bring the game back within one.

Maine would score once more before the first period was over. Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) collected a rebound and put a shot off of the pipes that ricocheted off of Nevin Hamilton's (Ashland, MA) back before it crossed into the net. The Black Bears finished the first period with a 3-1 lead.

Despite a goaltending change to Carter Hutton (Thunder Bay, Ont.) in the second period, Flynn was able to complete the hat trick at 3:35 into the stanza. Flynn was the beneficiary of a rebound again, picking up the opportunity created by House's shot.

Down by three, the UMass Lowell offense was ignited by a fantastic defensive play by Colin Wright (Burlington, Ont.). As the Black Bears attempted a cross ice pass in their own zone, Wright knocked the puck down and skated in one-on-one against Darling. Wright put his shot off the cross bar and into the net to draw the game back within two.

Before the second period was over, the River Hawks cut the Maine lead to 4-3. Breaking into the Black Bear zone, Kory Falite (Billerica, MA) set up teammate Ben Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, CO) on the short side. Holmstrom located his shot perfectly, going top shelf behind Darling, hitting the far pipe and deflecting into the goal. The score came at the 18:16 mark and was Holmstrom's seventh of the season.

Flynn stopped the River Hawks momentum with another score just 47 seconds into the third period. His fourth goal of the game came from Nyquist and House, reestablishing Maine's lead to 5-3.

UMass Lowell would not give up as Paul Worthington (Penndel, PA) notched his 12th goal of the season near the 7 minute mark. Barry Goers (Ivyland, PA) and Holmstrom fed Worthington who snapped off a long wrist shot that handcuffed Darling for the score. The River Hawks' fourth even-strength goal of the evening cut the score to 5-4 with 13 minutes remaining.

A one goal deficit would be as close as UMass Lowell got as Maine scored three consecutive goals to finish out the game, including Flynn's fifth of the night to help cement the 8-4 final. Flynn finished with a school record seven points on five goals and two assists.

Hamilton made five saves and allowed three goals during the first period. Hutton also struggled, stopping 13 shots while giving up five scores as he fell to 9-10-0 on the campaign. The Black Bears' Darling stopped 13-of-17 shots to improve to 15-4-3. Maine outshot the River Hawks 26-17 on the night and went one-for-three on the power play. The Black Bears did not commit a penalty.

UMass Lowell will have a shot at redemption tomorrow night with the second game of the weekend series in the Alfond Arena at 7 p.m.