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AMHERST, Mass. -- The No. 11 UMass Lowell hockey team was defeated at Massachusetts, 5-2, on Saturday night at the Mullins Center in Hockey East play.

With the loss, UMass Lowell drops to 16-10-3 (9-7-2 HEA), while the Minutemen improve to 9-18-1 and 4-13-1 in league play.

UMass' Dennis Kravchenko got the Minutemen on the scoreboard first with his 10th goal of the season at 6:59 in the middle frame off a rebound from a shot by Shane Walsh from the top of the right circle that beat UMass Lowell junior goalie Kevin Boyle (Manalapan, N.J.) blocker side as he sprawled across the crease to try and make the save. Dominic Trento made it a 2-0 game late in the second period with a wrist shot from the mid slot, beating Boyle high glove side. Frank Vatrano gave the Minutemen a 3-0 lead just 37 seconds later with a blast from the left faceoff circle with 1:42 left in the second on the power play for his 15th tally of the season.

Vatrano added another goal just 2:32 into the third period for his 16th of the season. The River Hawks got on the scoreboard with a 5x3 goal just 4:42 into the third period off a wrist shot from Michael Kapla (Eau Claire, Wis.) that beat Steve Mastalerz high glove side. Sophomore defenseman Dylan Zink (Madison, Wis.) scored just 19 seconds later on a nearly identical play that beat Mastalerz this time on his blocker side. Walsh made it a 5-2 game at the 6:09 mark to cap off the scoring in the game.

Sophomore forward Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) failed to score on penalty shot on the backhand against UMass goaltender Steve Mastalerz with 5:37 left in the opening period off of a take down of Gambardella on a break away by Marc Hetnik. The teams went into the locker room scoreless at the end of the first period with UMass holding a 15-12 shot advantage in the River Hawks. Sophomore defenseman Chris Forney (Thief River Falls, Minn.) totaled a team-high two shots on goal in the first period.

Freshman Tommy Panico (Wall, N.J.) dressed at forward for the first time in his River Hawk career, after playing the first 10 games of his career on the blueline.

UMass outshot the River Hawks, 34-30 for the game, but UMass Lowell owned a 11-6 shot advantage in the final period. Mastalerz recorded 28 saves in his second win of the season, while Boyle stopped 29 shots in his 22nd start of the season. Junior forward Michael Fallon (Glenview, Ill.) went 10-for-13 (77%) in the losing effort. Both teams finished the night 1-for-2 on the power play.

UMass Lowell returns to action on Friday, February 13 for non-league action at Massachusetts. Game time from the Mullins Center in Amherst is 7 p.m.