NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 5 UMass Lowell hockey team defeated Notre Dame, 3-1, on Thursday night at Compton Family Ice Arena.

With the victory, the River Hawks improve to 8-2-2 overall, 5-0-1 in league play. Notre Dame falls to 6-6-1 overall and 2-2-1 (HEA).

"I though our guys were able to show a better compete level tonight, we came off a subpar effort last Saturday night and I was pleased with the effort tonight," said River Hawks Head Coach Norm Bazin. "We generated some chances and executed offensively when we could and it was a tough effort against a very good team. I thought the second goal, Louria's goal, was a real defining moment for us in the hockey game, because he drove the net which was great, but he also stopped at the net and was able to shovel in his own rebound, which is a big play for us."

Junior forward Michael Colantone (Cave Creek, Ariz.) got the River Hawks on the board first in the game with his fourth goal of the season at 10:29 of the first period. He cleared the puck from top of the face off circle in the UMass Lowell defensive zone and the puck fluttered over Notre Dame goaltender Chad Katunar's glove. Notre Dame tied the game at 1-1 at 17:44 on a goal by Sam Herr for his fourth goal of the season for the Irish.

Freshman forward Michael Louria (Wexford, Pa.) gave UMass Lowell a 2-1 lead as freshman forward C.J. Smith (Des Moines, Iowa) brought the puck in the offensive zone down the left wing and passed to Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) in the slot, who fed the puck to Louria. Louria took the intial shot on the right side of the crease, but scored on the rebound off Katunar's left pad.

Senior captain Zack Kamrass (Atlanta, Ga.) had a great point blank chance in the low slot with 8:08 left in the third period, but Katunar was up to the task and made the save between his pads. Kamrass made it a 3-1 game with a wrist shot from the left point with 4:38 left in the third period.

Adam Chapie (Oxford, Mich.) and Louria led the River Hawks with a team-high four shots on goal apiece.

UMass Lowell outshot the Fighting Irish, 35-27 for the game, which included a 16-5 shot advantage in the second period. Junior Kevin Boyle (Manalapan, N.J.) stopped 26 shots in his fifth win of the season, while Katunar dropped to 3-2-0 with 32 saves in the losing effort.

The River Hawks return to action in the series finale on Friday, November 21st vs. the Fighting Irish. Game time at Compton Family Ice Arena is 7:35 p.m. and will be broadcast live on NBCSN.