Feb. 27, 2010

Box Score

UMass Lowell (17-14-3, 11-11-3 HE) came back from a two-goal first period deficit to pick up a 2-2 tie against Providence (10-19-3, 5-17-3 HE) on Saturday night. The tie moves the River Hawks into sole possession of fourth place in the Hockey East conference, pending tomorrow's game between Vermont and Boston University.

The contest remained scoreless for much of the opening period until the first penalty of the night set up a Friar power play at 13:33. Providence struggled to keep the play in the offensive zone, finally getting the puck in deep near the end of the man advantage. Ian O'Conner (Londonderry, NH) dealt a pass from behind the net to Matt Bergland (Faribault, MN) who beat Carter Hutton (Thunder Bay, Ont.) short side. Bergland's 11th goal of the season gave Providence a 1-0 lead at 15:02.

More surprising than the opening score, was the Friars' second goal only 29 seconds later. Following the face off, Tim Schaller's (Merrimack, NH) pass ricocheted off a skate and away from play, but a screened Hutton couldn't find the puck. Andy Balysky (Randolph, NJ) skated in before the River Hawks could react and buried the shot into a virtually empty net.

The first period did not pass without opportunities for UMass Lowell. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Kory Falite (Billerica, MA) received a beautiful weak-side pass through traffic from Jonathan Maniff (Revere, MA), but missed the open net.

The River Hawks cut the deficit in half early in the second period on a power play goal by Scott Campbell (Navan, Ont.). Providence cleared the puck out of its zone for a line change. Hutton cut the puck off and sent it all the way to the Friars' blue line for Campbell. The junior forward skated in on goaltender Alex Beaudry (Cumberland, Ont.) for a two-on-one situation, ripping a shot that trickled ever so slowly through Beaudry's legs and into the net. Campbell's 13th score of the season, eighth on the power play, cut the score to 2-1.

UMass Lowell opened the third period with a bang, tying the game at 2-2 only 1:02 into play. Jeremy Dehner (Madison, WI) sent the puck for a ride around the boards to Patrick Cey (Saskatoon, Sask.), who tapped a pass to Falite on the near side. The senior winger's shot hit a defenseman's stick, then the near post and bounced into the net thanks in part to an excellent screen by Ben Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, CO). The goal was Falite's team-leading 17th of the season.

The score remained knotted at 2-2 as regulation wound down, knocking the contest into overtime. In the extra frame, the puck remained in the River Hawk zone for the majority of play as Providence outshot UMass Lowell, 7-3. Despite the shot disparity, neither team would score in the extra frame, resulting in a 2-2 tie.

After the difficult first period, Hutton settled down to stop 24-of-26 shots on the night. The tie was the senior netminder's first of the season, moving his record to 11-10-1 overall. The Friars' Beaudry made 31 saves as his record became 9-17-3 with the tie. The River Hawks outshot Providence for the second consecutive night, 33-26, while each team was 1-for-2 on the power play.

UMass Lowell will make one final push for home-ice next weekend as it welcomes the Vermont Catamounts for a pair of games in the Tsongas Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. both nights.