Box Score

Sophomore F Grayson Downing scored two goals and junior F Kevin Goumas added one goal and one assist as No. 2 University of New Hampshire defeated UMass Lowell, 5-2, Friday night in a Hockey East clash in front of 5,725 at the Whittemore Center.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 4-6-1 overall and 2-5-1 in Hockey East while UNH improved to 10-1-2 overall and 7-1-1 in Hockey East. The two wrap the series Saturday night at 7:05 at the Tsongas Center.

UMass Lowell trailed 4-0 deep into the second period but pulled one back in the final seconds of the second behind junior Shayne Thompson (Stittsville, Ont.) and 7:10 into the third behind freshman F Michael Colantone (Cave Creek, Ariz.).

The Wildcats struck first when they capitalized during a UMass Lowell power play 9:43 into the first period. Nearly a minute after junior F Nick Sorkin went off for a trip, senior D Brett Kostolansky snatched an errant pass and sent to junior F Kevin Goumas on the left side, who centered to Downing.

Downing went in alone on junior G Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) and backhanded underneath for a 1-0 lead.

UMass Lowell nearly evened matters two minutes later when Thompson centered to junior F Joe Pendenza (Wilmington, Mass.) on a 2 on 1, but sophomore G Casey DeSmith read it well and smothered Pendenza's backhand.

UNH doubled its lead just 2:16 into the second period when senior F John Henrion intercepted a clearance at the top of the slot and wristed past Carr. The River Hawks, however, reacted well and peppered DeSmith with seven shots in the next four minutes.

Carr proved his worth at 7:05 when Downing broke free on a one-on-one, but Carr read his movement well and dropped right to snuff Downing's backhand.

The Wildcats, however, extended the lead to 4-0 with goals 1:31 apart. Goumas scored out of a scrum in the slot at 15:18 on a power play and Downing got his second at 16:49 when he finished a pass from behind the net from senior F Austin Block.

Thompson gave UMass Lowell a lifeline with one second remaining in the period when Pendenza possessed behind the UNH goal and found Thompson at the left circle, who rifled past DeSmith.

Colantone cut the lead in half 7:40 into the third period when he blasted home the rebound off a saved shot by sophomore F Scott Wilson (Oakville, Ont.).

Wilson nearly cut the lead to one at 11:33 when he passed to Wallin from behind the goal, but DeSmith was there to halt Wallin's one-timer. The River Hawks continued to put together nice combinations, but any hope of a comeback was dashed at 17:15 when Block wrestled between a pair of River Hawks in the right circle and beat freshman G Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich.) inside the far post to cap the scoring.

Hellebuyck, who replaced Carr in the third period, stopped eight of nine shots while Carr had 21 saves.
DeSmith had 34 saves for the Wildcats.

UMass Lowell had a 36-34 edge on shots.