March 12, 2010

Box Score

Video Highlights - UML 2 Maine 1 - March 12, 2010

The 2010 River Hawks did something no other team has done in UMass Lowell history, beat Maine in the playoffs. #20 UMass Lowell (19-14-4, 12-11-4 HE) defeated the Black Bears (16-16-3, 13-12-2 HE) in the first game of the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinals at the Alfond Arena on Friday night. The win marked the first time in the conference's 26-year history that the River Hawks have beat Maine in the playoffs, snapping a 12-game losing streak.

The Black Bears ignited the Alfond Arena with an early goal from Mark Nemec (Rouses Point, NY). As the UMass Lowell power play was ending, the puck was cleared out of the zone with Joey Diamond (Long Beach, NY) carrying in neutral ice. Diamond hit Nemec with a pass at the blue line as he emerged from the penalty box, skating in on a breakaway at the River Hawk net. The freshman defenseman took a shot from inside the faceoff circles to beat Carter Hutton (Thunder Bay, Ont.) glove-side high. Nemec's first goal of the season put Maine up 1-0 at five minutes into the first.

Even though the Black Bears seemingly controlled the pace of play throughout the remainder of the first period, UMass Lowell evened the score with over a minute remaining. Scott Campbell (Navan, Ont.) kept the puck alive in Maine's zone and peeled off a shot that went wide of the net. Senior defenseman Jeremy Dehner (Madison, WI) collected the puck in the corner and fired what looked to be a centering pass at the net front. Black Bear defenseman Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, CO) tried to cut the pass off, but rerouted the puck into the net past Dave Wilson (Caledon East, Ont.). Dehner received credit for the score, his sixth of the year, to tie the game at 1-1.

The second period was predicated on defense as each team battled along the boards and allowed very few offensive chances. The game had a potential momentum swing erased as the officials blew the whistle just before an apparent Maine goal during a scrum at the post with 7:38 left in the middle period.

The River Hawks took the lead near the midpoint of the third period on a rebound goal by Ben Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, CO). Kory Falite (Billerica, MA) kept the puck in the Black Bears' zone with an excellent fore check and then sent it to the blue line for Ryan Blair (Ashburn, VA). Blair put a shot on net and Wilson made the stop, but Holmstrom batted the rebound out of the air, roughly waist-high, on the weak side for his ninth goal of the season.

Senior netminder Hutton shined in net, stopping 18-of-19 shots on net to improve to 13-10-2 on the season. Maine entered the game with the number one power play in the conference, but Hutton was able to hold the Black Bears scoreless in five chances. Maine's Wilson made 19 saves, but fell to 0-4-0 on the campaign. UMass Lowell outshot the Black Bears, 21-19.

The two teams will lace the skates again tomorrow night as the River Hawks can clinch the quarterfinal series and a trip to the TD Garden with another win on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:07 p.m.