March 13, 2010

Box Score

The #20 River Hawks (19-15-4, 12-11-4 HE) came up short against Maine (17-16-3, 13-12-2 HE) on Saturday night, 2-0. The loss marked the first time UMass Lowell was shutout on the campaign.

It took only 23 seconds for Maine to break the ice, swarming the River Hawk net and scoring a goal that set off the crowd. After a Robby Dee (Plymouth, MN) shot was stopped, Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ont.) fired a rocket through traffic that Carter Hutton (Thunder Bay, Ont.) failed to see. Abbott's eighth goal of the year put the Black Bear's up 1-0.

A UMass Lowell penalty immediately after the goal gave Maine a power play and nearly a second goal moments later. On wrap around attempt by Joey Diamond (Long Beach, NY), Hutton extended his leg and pinned the puck against the pipe to prevent what appeared to be a sure-fire goal.

The River Hawks dodged another bullet after back-to-back penalties in the first gave the Black Bears a five-on-three power play for almost a full two minutes. Through excellent clears by Nick Schaus (Buffalo, NY), Chris Auger (Belleville, Ont.) and Ryan Blair (Ashburn, VA), UMass Lowell survived the dangerous situation. Maine was held to just one shot on net during the power play.

UMass Lowell had a potential goal blown dead early in the second. A bouncing puck made its way to the net with help from a few River Hawk sticks. Goaltender Dave Wilson (Caledon East, Ont.) dropped down to make the save and the officials blew the whistle. Wilson never made the save and the puck bounced through his legs, but the quick whistle nullified the play and the score remained 1-0 in Maine's favor.

The no-goal came back to haunt UMass Lowell as the Black Bears notched a power play score later in the period to increase their lead to two goals. After Nick Schaus (Buffalo, NY) reeled off a short-handed shot, Maine broke up ice quickly and advanced into the River Hawk zone. Tanner House (Cochrane, Alb.) collected the pass from Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) and ripped a shot into the mesh at 12:45 into the middle period.

UMass Lowell outshot the Black Bears 12-4 in the second period despite sliding into a bigger deficit.

Maine clamped down defensively in the third period to limit the River Hawks' offensive chances. The Black Bears kept UMass Lowell off the scoreboard, preserving the final score of 2-0.

Hutton finished the game with 28 saves, but was saddled with the loss to drop his record to 13-11-2. Wilson stopped 22-of-22 shots for his first shutout of the season, improving his record to 1-4-0. Maine outshot the River Hawks 30-22 on the night.

The Hockey East Tournament quarterfinals will come to a conclusion tomorrow as the two teams will facing on in the deciding third game. The winner on Sunday will advance to the semifinals at the TD Garden in Boston next weekend.