Jan. 24, 2012

Box Score

11th-ranked UMass Lowell hockey came up one goal short on Tuesday night, falling to Providence College in the Schneider Arena, 1-0.

The River Hawks fell to 14-7-0 on the season and 9-6-0 in Hockey East action, while the Friars improved to 10-11-2 overall and 8-7-1 in conference play.

Providence captured the lead early in the contest, scoring at 5:25 into the opening period. Stefan Demopoulos (La Mesa, Calif.) found Shane Luke (Dauphin, Man.) at the near circle and the freshman forward beat goaltender Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) short-side.

The game evolved into a defensive battle as the second period went scoreless. The River Hawks had the best opportunity after a five-minute major and game misconduct on Robert Maloney (Eagan, Minn.) put UMass Lowell on a lengthy power play. A near score by Michael Budd (Burlington, Ont.) highlighted the stretch, but an interference call on Joseph Pendenza (Wilmington, Mass.) cut the power play short. The River Hawks outshot the Friars in the second period 10-3.

Early in the third period Providence nearly went ahead 2-0, but Carr made a kick save and then robbed Billy Simon (Burnsville, Minn.) with a jaw-dropping glove save on the rebound attempt. Despite two power plays in the final 10 minutes and an eventual goalie pull for the extra skater with1:22 remaining, UMass Lowell couldn't push a score across.

Carr finished the night with 20 saves, earning the game's third star. The second year netminder falls to 13-4-0 on the season, but held the Friars scoreless on a pair of power plays. Providence's Alex Beaudry (Cumberland, Ont.) improved to 9-11-2 while stopping all 29 River Hawk shots.

UMass Lowell will only have a couple of days to recover before traveling to Amherst on Friday during the first leg of a home-and-home series with the Massachusetts Minutemen. The weekend will conclude at the Tsongas Center on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. each night.