Oct. 14, 2011

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UMass Lowell hockey takes the ice in the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, MN to open the 2011-12 season against Minnesota State at 8:30 p.m. on Friday night.

The River Hawks are coming off of a 3-3 tie with New Brunswick in their annual preseason exhibition game on Sunday. The Mavericks are already two games into their campaign, splitting their opening weekend at Renssalaer in Troy, NY with a 1-0 win and 4-1 loss.

Friday will mark Norm Bazin's coaching debut with UMass Lowell, the program he played for from 1990-94. He will look to become the third head coach in program history to start his career with a victory.

The River Hawks return their top three scorers from a season ago in David Vallorani (Hamilton, Ont.), Riley Wetmore (Swanton, Vt.) and Matt Ferreira (Brampton, Ont.). Vallorani and Wetmore each eclipsed the 30-point barrier last season with 31 and 30, respectively, and will look to improve upon their impressive numbers.

Thus far in the young season, Minnesota State has received goals from senior Cameron Cooper (Lakeville, Minn.) and sophomore Johnny McInnis (Boston, Mass.). The most important player for the Mavericks last weekend was goaltender Austin Lee (Bloomington, Minn.) who recorded a 36 save shutout of RPI.

Regardless of the outcome, the clubs will lace up the skates on Saturday at 7 p.m. to complete the weekend set.