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They have been prominent on college hockey's national stage, but they have never met.

UMass Lowell (8-4-0 overall / 2-1-0 in Hockey East) and Notre Dame (8-3-1 / 2-1-1) face one another twice this weekend, Friday 7:00 PM and Saturday 4:00 PM, at the Tsongas Center. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in any sport.

Both games can be heard on the ESPN River Hawk Radio Network. Friday's broadcast will start with the pre-game show at 6:30 PM, Saturday's broadcast will be picked up in progress following the conclusion of the broadcast of the UMass Lowell men's basketball contest against the University of Rhode Island. The four-station network spanning the Route 3 corridor from Concord, NH to Burlington, MA can be heard on ESPN 900 AM (flagship station), ESPN 1250 AM, WSMN 1590 AM, and WCAP 980 AM. Fans worldwide can also listen online at ESPNNH.com or through the ESPN Radio smartphone application.

Friday's game will also be televised regionally on WBIN-TV and Saturday's game will be shown on NESN.

"Notre Dame is a great opponent," said UMass Lowell Hockey Coach Norm Bazin. "They are going to have an excellent hockey team. They are equally well-coached, they are good in their structure, they've got some top-end players throughout their lineup. It will be a great challenge for us."

Notre Dame is ranked sixth in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO polls. UMass Lowell sits in the number 11 spot in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine poll and 13^th in the USCHO poll.

"We're facing a top team in the country and they are going to give us everything that we can handle, so we've got to be good," said Bazin. "We're concentrating on having two good hockey games this weekend. That's all we're focused on."

The River Hawks have been plenty good of late. They've won seven of eight including three in a row on the road over a four-day period.

"I was proud of the guys' effort," said Bazin. "I was proud of the compete level, and most of all, I was proud of the way they played in the third game in four nights."

The River Hawks defeated Princeton, 2-1, and then took two games at Penn State, 4-0 and 3-2, while logging more than one thousand miles on the bus roundtrip.

"The character in your locker room is revealed when conditions are less than optimal," said Bazin. "Those were adverse conditions, and there were great crowds both nights at Penn State. Every game is a new test toward forming your identity, and this past week was a big challenge. The third night, we challenged our guys, and they responded. We took the game to them, which was a nice way to go out."

Sophomore Adam Chapie (Oxford, Mich.) and junior Scott Wilson (Oakville, Ont.) lead the River Hawks in scoring. Each has nine points while Chapie tops the goal scoring list with six. Neither is among the national or Hockey East scoring leaders and therein lies one of the secrets to the current success – depth. The coach is fond of saying the team has "four second lines."

"It can be the great equalizer," suggests Bazin. "We're comfortable with who we are, we're very comfortable with how we work and how we approach games. Having a great team is having different parts contribute on any given night. Despite, maybe lacking the top-end talents the other clubs who we play have, we have great depth and we come at you with four lines and that's important especially at playoff time."

Notre Dame's roster features 11 players drafted by NHL clubs, including freshman forward Vince Hinostroza, a Chicago Blackhawks' draft choice. Hinostroza, who missed last weekend's games against Merrimack with an injury, leads Notre Dame in scoring with 12 points.

The Fighting Irish come into the game after a win and a tie last weekend and are 3-3-1 in their last seven.

Notre Dame showcases the best penalty killing unit in the nation. They've allowed only four goals in 57 shorthanded situations, a 93% success rate.

The River Hawks could test those numbers. After a slow start, the power play has scored in seven of the team's last eight games going 11-for-37 over that stretch, a 29.7% clip.

Goaltending should be featured during the weekend. Sophomore Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich.) and senior Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) have shared the netminding responsibilities and have put up terrific numbers. Hellebuyck's goal against average sits at 1.89 with a .938 save percentage. Carr comes in at 1.98/.930. At the other end of the ice Steven Summerhays tends the Notre Dame net with a 1.66 GAA and a .936 save percentage. All three goalies are ranked among the top five in Hockey East.

Tickets for all River Hawks home hockey games are on sale now. Game tickets are $18 ($19 day of game) for adults and $12 ($13 day of game) for seniors (65+) and children (12 and under). UMass Lowell students receive free admission by scanning their ID as part of the Mission: All In campaign.

Tickets can be purchased at the Tsongas Center Box Office, which is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. during the week. Fans can also purchase tickets online at TsongasCenter.com or by calling 866-722-8780.

The UMass Lowell Athletic Department is also selling season, mini-pack and group tickets at this time. Packages can be purchased online at TsongasCenter.com or by contacting Andrew Ralph (andrew_ralph@uml.edu; 978-934-5749) or Joe Fellini (joseph_fellini@uml.edu; 978-934-5751).