(.PDF) | Highlights

LOWELL, Mass. – The No. 9 UMass Lowell hockey team won its second straight game to open the season, defeating the No.13 Quinnipiac Bobcats, 6-3, in front of 4,329 fans at the Tsongas Center.

Chris Maniccia (St. Catherines, Ontario) opened up the River Hawks' (2-0-0, 1-0-0) scoring at 15:39, his first goal of the season. Maniccia received a pass behind the net from Robert Francis (San Diego, Calif.) and beat the Bobcat goalie glove-side from right in front of the post.

"I thought it was a well played hockey game, I think both teams made the opposition earn their ice," said Head Coach Norm Bazin "I thought it was an early season in terms of turnovers, but a mid-season game in terms of physical play and making the other team earn it. I think we still forming our identity and the character reveals itself, we wanted to have a good third period. You are very glad when you can execute offensively, however that is a good testament to what they can do in the third period and now playing on the road tomorrow will be an excellent test for us."

A few minutes later the Bobcats (1-1-0, 0-0-0) looked to have tied the score on a shot that snuck through Kevin Boyle's (Manalapan, N.J.) but Zack Kamrass (Atlanta, Ga.) cleared the puck off the line. The play was reviewed and the no goal call was confirmed.

Michael Kapla (Eau Claire, Wisc.) gave UMass Lowell the 2-0 lead at 4:17 of the second period. Michael Louria (Wexford, Pa.) sent the puck to C.J. Smith (Des Moines, Iowa) inside the blueline, where the Bobcats poked the puck off his stick. The loose puck went right to Kapla, who took no time to fire the shot in from in-between the tops of the circles.

Sam Anas cut the lead to 2-1 on a four-on-three advantage for the Bobcats at 9:32. Boyle made the original save off a Matthew Peca shot but Anas was waiting on the stick side to put the puck home past the diving Boyle.
With UMass Lowell clinging on to the 2-1 lead, Smith added an insurance goal at 2:39 of the third period. Evan Campbell's (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) original shot was saved by Garteig and the rebound went right to Smith who didn't waste the opportunity right in-front of the crease.

Five minutes later Francis added his second of the season to extend the lead to 4-1. Jake Suter (Lac de Flambeau, Wisc.) dished out one his team-high three assists of the night.
Quinnipiac would not go down without a fight, once again getting within two with 9:11 remaining in regulation. Justin Agosta received a pass at the side of the net from Canon Pieper, and put the shot off of the left pad of a diving Boyle and into the net.

Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) increased the lead to 5-2 at 13:26 of the third period with assists from Smith and Suter.

The Bobcats scored their third and final goal of the night at 15:36 off the stick of Andrew Taverner, the assists credited to Peca and Agosta. Michael Colantone (Cave Creek, Ariz.) added a short-handed empty net goal at 16:34 to ice the victory for the River Hawks.

Quinnipiac finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play with two shots, and UMass Lowell went 1-for-2 (two shots). Boyle made 24 saves for his second win of the season, Garteig made 20 in net for the Bobcats.

Along with Suter's three assists, Smith ended the night with one goal and two assists, and Dylan Zink (Madison, Wisc.)  also had two assists.

Both teams complete and the home-and-home tomorrow night in Hamden, Conn., with faceoff at 7:00 p.m. at High Point Solutions Arena.