Friday, October 21st vs. St. Lawrence (7:15pm)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
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Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: (WCAP 980AM)
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

Non-Commercial Radio: (WUML 91.5 FM)
Talent: Alex Salucco (Play by Play); Brianne Dillon (Analyst)

Saturday, October 23rd vs. Clarkson (7pm)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
HOMECOMING | BINGO CARD GIVEAWAY
Watch Live ($) | Listen Live | Live Stats | Buy Tickets
Parking Information
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockey


Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: (WCAP 980AM)
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

Non-Commercial Radio: (WUML 91.5 FM)
Talent: Alex Salucco (Play by Play); Carter Cotrupi (Analyst)

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell, with a 2-0-2 record, is ranked 5th in both the USA Hockey Magazine poll and the USCHO poll.  The team was picked for a fourth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll.  The River Hawk roster shows nine new faces including six forwards, one defensemen and two goalies.  The team does return its top two scorers in forwards CJ Smith (39-points) and Joe Gambardella (37-points).  That duo leads the 2016-17 edition of the River Hawks in scoring.  Gambardella has three goals and eight points, Smith is second with two goals and seven points.  The four goalies, including two freshmen, entered this season with a combined 99-minutes of collegiate experience.  Freshman Tyler Wall leads the foursome with a 1.09 GAA and a .965 save percentage.  UMass Lowell was 25-10-5 a year ago and is looking for its sixth consecutive 20-win season.
 
SCOUTING THE SAINTS: St. Lawrence, with a 3-1-0 record, was picked to finish second in both the ECAC pre-season coaches' poll and the ECAC Media poll.  The Saints visit the Tsongas Center after sweeping a pair of games, at the Appleton Arena, against Hockey East teams a week ago.  St. Lawrence defeated UNH, 6-2, on Friday and completed the sweep with a 4-1 win against Merrimack on Saturday.  Twelve players have scored goals, six have more than one.  Mike Marnell leads the team in scoring with six points (2g, 4a).  Kyle Hayton has started all four games in net and carries a 2.26 GAA and a .929 save percentage into Friday night's clash.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. St. LAWRENCE:  This is only the 21st meeting between the two schools and just the second in the last decade, in a series that dates back to 1980.  The River Hawks hold an 11-8-1 edge in the all-time series and are 6-3-1 in the last ten.  The last meeting was in the Ice Breaker Tournament on Omaha, Nebraska in 2009.  UMass Lowell won that contest, 3-0.  Kory Falite had a goal and two assists in the game and Carter Hutton made 24 saves to earn the shutout.
 
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE:  UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USA Today poll, for 93 consecutive weeks.  The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013.  Of those 93 weeks more than half, 60, have been spent in the top ten.
 
WHO's NEXT: UMass Lowell hosts Clarkson Saturday night at the Tsongas Center.  The River Hawks lead the all-time series, 13-11-1.  Although the series has been rather evenly split, The River Hawks are 9-0-1 in the last ten meetings.  Clarkson won ten of the first 13 games played between the two schools.  UMass Lowell shut out Clarkson, 3-0, a year ago in the opening round of the Three Rivers Classic at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
 
HONORS FOR THE WALL IN FRONT OF THE NET: UMass Lowell freshman goalie Tyler Wall was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week after picking up two wins and his first collegiate shutout last weekend against Colorado College.  Wall stopped 42 of 44 shots (.955) with a 1.20 GAA as UMass Lowell swept the Tigers in Colorado Springs.  The freshman had entered Friday's game at Colorado College, in relief, and turned aside 13 of 15 shots over the final 40 minutes to get credit for the win as UMass Lowell defeated the Tigers 8-5.  Wall has appeared in three, two as the starter, of UMass Lowell's four games this season.  He is in the top ten in the nation in both goals against averaged (1.09) and save percentage (.965).  He made his collegiate debut and turned aside 40 shots in earning a 1-1 tie with Minnesota Duluth on October 8, 2016. 
 
UNDEFEATED: UMass Lowell, at 2-0-2, is one of just two Hockey East teams still undefeated two weekends into the season.  Connecticut is also 2-0-2.  The River Hawks are also one of five teams in the country undefeated four games into the season.
 
PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through four games, UMass Lowell has played from behind for just 60-seconds.  That happened in the first period last Friday night when the River Hawks fell behind Colorado College, 3-2, at 14:54 of the first period.  One minute later, at 15:54, Jake Kamrass scored to tie the score and 1:56 later Ryan Dmowski scored to put UMass Lowell back on top.  UMass Lowell has held the lead for 210:05 of the 250-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.
 
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM:  UMass Lowell has more than held its own in non-conference play over the last five-plus years.  During that period of time the River Hawks have gone 39-13-5 (.723) against schools from other conferences.  A year ago UMass Lowell was 9-3-1 against non-conference opponents including a 3-1-1 record against ECAC schools.  The River Hawks chalked up wins against RPI and Clarkson and a tie against Brown during the regular season.  They split a pair of NCAA Tournament games beating Yale, 3-2 in OT, before losing to Quinnipiac, 4-1.  UMass Lowell is 96-74-11 all-time against teams representing the ECAC and 12-6-3 since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins in 2011.
 
POWER PLAY: It's a small sample size but, UMass Lowell has the top power play in the country.  The River Hawks have scored nine goals in 22 man-up opportunities for a 40.9% success rate.  Six different players have scored with the man advantage; Joe Gambardella, C.J. Smith and Mattias Goransson have two each.
 
LEGENDS of LOWELL HOCKEY: Former UMass Lowell forward Kory Falite, 2006-10, will be honored on Saturday night when he is inducted into the Legends of Lowell Hockey.  Falite scored 60 goals and 106 points in 141 games.  He twice led UMass Lowell in points and topped Hockey East in goals during his sophomore season.  Ceremonies on the ice will take place during the second intermission.
 
WHEN RANKED TEAMS VISIT: UMass Lowell is unbeaten, at the Tsongas Center, in their last twelve games (7-0-5) against nationally ranked teams.  The streak is their longest since the USCHO poll began in 1997. Their last home loss to a ranked team on Feb. 6, 2015, when they were beaten by third ranked BU, 5-2.  The River Hawks opened this season with two ties against fifth ranked Minnesota Duluth.
 
LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell swept a weekend series from Colorado College, 8-5 and 4-0, at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.  John Edwardh and Ryan Dmowski each scored twice the first night.  C.J. Smith scored the first two goals on Saturday.  Goalie Tyler Wall picked up the win in both games.  He turned aside 29 shots on Saturday to earn his first collegiate shutout.
 
BIG ICE:  Last weekend's series was the first time this year that UMass Lowell has played on an Olympic sized sheet of ice, 200 x 100.  The River Hawks swept the series, 8-5, 4-0.  Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching responsibilities "big ice" has not been an issue.  The River Hawks have a record of 30-8-5 on larger than the standard 200 x 85 ice sheets including a record of 12-2-1 on an Olympic sheet. 
 
EIGHT: The eight goals UMass Lowell scored on Friday night against Colorado College was the most in a game since defeating Arizona State, 8-1, on January 30, 2016.  It is the fourth time the River Hawks have turned the red light on eight times in a game since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench for 2011-12 season.  Since moving to Division I UMass Lowell is 42-1-1 when scoring eight or more goals.
 
FIVE: Friday night's 8-5 win was the first UMass Lowell victory when allowing five goals in a game in more than five years.  The last such win came on January 25, 2011 when the River Hawks defeated Bentley, also 8-5.
 
CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell dominated in the faceoff circle during the opening two weeks of the season winning 173 of 296 puck drops.  The .584 faceoff winning percentage is the fourth best in the nation.  Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 62 of 95, .653. Evan Campbell (23 of 38, .605), and Ryan Lohin (33 of 59, .559) are also above the .500 mark.  Nick Master (42 of 85, .494) is just below an even split.
 
THE LEADERSHIP: Senior defenseman Michael Kapla has been chosen to wear the "C", as Captain, on the front of his jersey.  The River Hawk leadership team also includes Alternate Captains senior center Joe Gambardella and junior defenseman Tyler Mueller.
 
LIGHTING THE LAMP: After being held without a goal in his first 28 collegiate games, Mass Lowell sophomore forward Connor Wilson has found the back of the net in consecutive games.  He scored his first collegiate goal in last Saturday's 1-1 tie with Minnesota Duluth and followed it up with a goal Friday night against Colorado College.
 
ROAD OPENERS:  UMass Lowell is, now, 21-24-5, all-time, in road openers.  The win ends a four game winless streak (0-2-2) in road openers.
 
FIT TO BE TIED:  This is the first time that UMass Lowell has ever started the season with back-to-back ties.  The River Hawks opened the 1995-96 season with a win against Rensselaer and then consecutive ties at Air Force.  In 2010-11 UMass Lowell started the season with a loss at Maine and ties at Niagara and RIT.
 
UML / NHL: Five former River Hawks earned spots on opening night rosters as the NHL began its 99th season this week.  That number is the largest number for opening night.  Ron Hainsey, 1999-2001, begins his 4th season as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes and his 14th NHL campaign.  He has logged 835 games in his NHL career scoring 45 goals and 236 points.  Drafted by the Montreal Canadiens, he was the 13th pick of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.  Carter Hutton, 2006-10, starts his first season with the St. Louis Blues and his fifth in the NHL.  He has a career record of 33-24-0-12 with four shutouts, a 2.56 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.  Christian Folin, 2012-14, begins his third full season with the Minnesota Wild.  The defenseman has two goals and 15 points in his NHL career.  Scott Wilson, 2012-15, starts the season on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster for the first time in his career.  Wilson scored five goals and six points in 24 games before an injury cut his 2015-16 season short.  The youngest in the group, goalie Connor Hellebuyck, 2012-14, is on the Winnipeg Jets opening night roster for the first time.  Hellebuyck was 13-11-1 with a 2.34 GAA and a .918 Sv.% after making his NHL debut midway through the 2015-16 season.
 
FRESHMEN: Seven freshmen have made their River Hawk debut during the first two weekends of the new season.  Kenny Hausinger, Mattias Göransson, Guillaume Leclerc and Ryan Lohin all pulled on the River Hawk sweater for the season opener.  Göransson made it into the box score with a goal and an assist.  Two more made their debut the following night as James Winkler played on the wing and Tyler Wall made 40 saves in nets.  A seventh freshman made his debut a week ago when Colin O'Neill skated against Colorado College.
 
50th Season of UMass Lowell Hockey:  This is the 50th season of hockey at UMass Lowell.  The varsity program began with the 1967-68 season.  That first team went 7-7-1.  After winning three Division II National Championships the program moved to Division I as an Independent for the 1983-84 season and joined Hockey East for its inaugural season of 1984-85.  The River Hawks are 823-691-113 all time with a winning percentage of .540.
 
SEASON LONG CELEBRATIONS:  UMass Lowell will celebrate the 50th year of River Hawk hockey throughout the season with a variety of promotions and events.  The celebration will be highlighted by the naming of five All-Era teams as selected by the fans in on-line voting.
 
PENALTIES: UMass Lowell was whistled for 11 penalties in last Friday night's season opener.  That is the most penalties called against the River Hawks since March 9, 2013 in a 4-1 win at Providence when UMass Lowell players were sent to the box 12 times.  The PK unit was 10-for-10 as UMass Lowell won its first Hockey East regular season title.  The last time UMass Lowell took 11 penalties at home was in a 7-1 win against BU, November 5, 2011.
 
IT HAD BEEN A WHILE: UMass Lowell scored three power play goals in a game twice this young season.  That had not happened since hitting for three against Notre Dame in a 3-1 win, November 23, 2013.  The River Hawks scored three in the season opener against Minnesota Duluth and last night against Colorado College.
 
SEASON OPENERS:  UMass Lowell are now 26-19-5 in season openers and 29-17-4 in home openers after the October 7, 2016  contest.  The River Hawks, with the tie, see their brief two game home opener winning streak come to an end.  UMass Lowell won their last two previous season and home openers defeating Rensselaer, 3-0, last year and Boston College, 5-2, in October of 2014.  The last home opener to end in a tie was October 12, 2012; a 1-1 tie with Vermont.  Since the opening of the Tsongas Center, UMass Lowell is 11-5-3 in the home opener.
 
THE SENIOR CLASS:  This four-member UMass Lowell Senior class is one of three in Hockey East with 70 wins or more.  The River Hawks seniors have a record of 72-33-15 and a .663 winning percentage.  Only Boston College (77) and Providence (75) have more.  The senior class has a shot at the school record set by the 2016 seniors who accumulated 100 wins over a four year period.
 
FIVE YEARS AMONG THE BEST:  Over the last five years UMass Lowell has won 124 games putting the River Hawks in an elite group.  Only four teams (North Dakota, Boston College, Quinnipiac and Minnesota) have won more.  UMass Lowell winning percentage, .668, is fourth best in the nation and second in Hockey East during that period.