Jan. 15, 2011

Box Score

UMass Lowell hockey got down early and was never able to come back, falling at Massachusetts, 4-1, on Saturday night. Senior Maury Edwards (Rocky Rapids, Alta.) scored the lone River Hawk tally in the losing effort.

The loss, UMass Lowell's 13th consecutive, drops the team's record to 2-18-2 overall and 2-14-0 in conference play. The Minutemen secured the weekend and season series sweep, improving to 5-11-3 overall and 4-6-3 in Hockey East play.

The game got off on the wrong foot as the Minutemen scored at 4:11 into the first period. Adam Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) took a waist high shot from about 45 feet out that hit a defenseman and deflected low, sneaking under goaltender Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.).

That goal's impact was compounded when Massachusetts added a second tally only 34 seconds later. Conor Sheary (Melrose, Mass.) set up in the middle of the offensive zone, collected a pass from Michael Lecomte (St. Hyacinthe, Que.) and converted a wrist shot to put the Minutemen up 2-0.

The struggles continued in the second period as Massachusetts scored two more goals. Phillips deflected a Danny Hobbs (Shawville, Que.) drive for a score at 1:59 into play, followed by a Chase Langeraap (Cayuga, Ont.) tally at 15:02.

The River Hawks did outplay the Minutemen in the third period, outshooting their opponent 13-6 and picking up a goal by Edwards. Matt Ferreira (Brampton, Ont.) tied up the puck in the corner and then flipped it out to Derek Arnold (Foxboro, Mass.). Arnold drifted towards the net and pulled off a wrist shot that was saved, but the rebound kicked to a crashing Edwards who buried the puck. The goal was Edwards' fourth of the season and cut the score to 4-1.

UMass Lowell goaltender Carr took the loss, dropping to 2-11-1 on the season. Carr stopped 22 of 26 shots. Massachusetts' Paul Dainton (Iqaluit, Nunavut) made 28 saves as he improved to 5-6-2.

The River Hawks finished the night 0-for-6 on the power play, the first time they've failed to convert six or more power play chances since Oct. 16 against RIT. The Minutemen faired better on special teams, converting two of their three power ply opportunities.

UMass Lowell will get some rest before traveling to Merrimack and Boston College next weekend, both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.