Dec. 30, 2011

Gametracker | WUML Radio | Game Notes

UMass Lowell will try to become the first Hockey East team to win the Toyota UConn Holiday Classic when it takes on host Connecticut at 7:15 p.m. tonight in Storrs, CT.

Entering its 19th year, the Holiday Classic has seen Massachusetts, Merrimack and Northeastern all vie for the championship, but only the Minutemen have made the finals where they lost to Bentley, 4-1, in 2009.

The River Hawks (11-5-0) punched their ticket to the championship game with a 7-2 victory over Rensselaer last night. Senior forward David Vallorani (Hamilton, Ont.) scored a shorthanded goal and two assists to surpass the 100 career point marker.

Vallorani, who has 101 points on 36 goals and 65 assists, is just the 40th player in program history to join the century club and the 20th in UMass Lowell's Division I history. He ranks second on the team this season with 16 points (6g, 10a).

Also shining in the win was sophomore Joseph Pendenza (Wilmington, Mass.) who scored twice, including a goal just 43 seconds into play. Pendenza now has 15 points on six goals and nine assists.

River Hawk goaltender Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) continued to roll, securing his 10th win of the year. Carr turned away 23-of-25 shots on the night.

The Huskies (6-9-2) defeated Army on Thursday, 2-0, behind goals from Cole Schneider and Brant Harris. The duo leads Connecticut's offense as Schneider has a team-high 18 points (6g, 12a) and Harris sits with 17 points (12g, 5a).

Connecticut goaltender Garrett Bartus has played all 17 games this season and carries a .926 save percentage and 2.51 goals against average.

UMass Lowell and the Huskies have already met once this season, when Connecticut prevailed in overtime, 3-2, on Oct. 18 in the Conway Arena in Nashua, NH. Michael Budd (Burlington, Ont.) and Riley Wetmore (Swanton, Vt.) erased a 2-0 deficit, but the Huskies' Marcello Ranallo scored at 1:18 in overtime.