NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Sophomore goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich.) made 33 saves for his ninth career shutout to lead the No. 8 ranked River Hawks hockey team to a 4-0 shutout against  Merrimack College on Saturday night at Lawler Arena completing the weekend series sweep.
 
Hellebuyck is just one shutout away from tying the UMass Lowell career record of 10, previously set by Carter Hutton (2006-10). He improves his record to 10-5-1 in his 16^th start of the season.
 
UMass Lowell improves its record to 18-7-2 overall and 8-4-1 in Hockey East play. Merrimack drops to 7-15-3 and 2-9-2 (HEA).
 
"I thought we got contributions throughout our lineup tonight with several key goals and solid goaltending. We had a lot of things to be pleased with," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "I thought our net front sticks were exceptional, that and the shot blocks were two things that stand out in my mind as far a team defense goes. It was probably one of our better efforts this year in terms of block shots (13 on the night). Any time you can sweep any opponent in Hockey East, it's quite an accomplishment, because it's so deep."
 
Freshman forward Chris Maniccia (St. Catharines, Ont.) made it a three-goal game with 4:42 left in the second frame and freshman Evan Campbell (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) scored the final goal for the River Hawks with 5:48 remaining in the contest. Campbell's goal in his third score in the last three games for the River Hawks.
 
Senior forward Joseph Pendenza (Wilmington, Mass.) totaled a team-high four shots on goal and won 13 face offs on the night.
 
The River Hawks had a 5-on-3 for 1:24 in the first two minutes of the second period, but couldn't capitalize on the advantage with three shots on goal on the two-man advantage. Hellebuyck stopped a great chance by Brian Christie with his left pad with 54 seconds left in the middle frame to keep the Warriors off the board.
 
Senior forward Shayne Thompson (Stittsville, Ont.) made it a 2-0 game just 40 seconds into the second period with a wrist shot beating Merrimack goaltender Sam Marotta blocker side. Sophomore forward Adam Chapie (Oxford, Mich.) scored on a penalty shot at 8:49 of the first period beating Marotta glove side, hitting the right post for his ninth goal of the season. Chapie was hooked on the breakaway play by Merrimack's Brendan Ellis. It marked the first River Hawks penalty shot goal since Doug Nolan's tally on December 5, 1996 at Northeastern. Marotta finished the game with 20 stops in the loss.
 
The River Hawks return to action on Friday, February 7 at Boston University. Game time at Agganis Arena is 7:30pm. UMass Lowell's next home game at the Tsongas Center is Friday, February 14 vs. Massachusetts (7:30pm). The game will be broadcast live on WBIN-TV.