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HANOVER, N.H. – The No. 7 ranked UMass Lowell Hockey team defeated ECAC foe Colgate, 3-2, in the opening game of the 28^th annual Ledyard Classic at Thompson Arena hosted by Dartmouth College on Friday afternoon.

The River Hawks improve their record to 11-5-3 with the victory, while the Raiders drop to 4-10-4 with the loss.

Freshman forward Colin O'Neill (Odenton, Md.) got the River Hawks on the scoreboard first with just 1:37 left in the opening period for his third career marker. UMass Lowell held a 12-7 shot advantage on Colgate at the end of the first period.

Freshman defenseman Mattias Goransson (Slottsbron, Sweden) extended the River Hawks lead to 2-0 with a power play marker for his fourth goal of his River Hawk career just 4:12 into the second period. Senior forward Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored his ninth goal of the year with 2:40 left in the second frame to give UMass Lowell a 3-0 lead at the end of the second frame. Gambardella picked off a pass from Colgate player and beat Colgate goalie Charlie Finn high glove side.

Adam Dauda added a power play goal for his fifth goal of the season to get Colgate on the scoreboard just 5:15 into the third frame. Colgate's Tim Harrison tipped a shot by Brett Corkey to cut the UMass Lowell lead to 3-2 on an extra attacker goal with just 1:38 left in the final frame.

Freshman goaltender Tyler Wall (Leamington, Ont.) notched 26 saves in his 10^th win (14th career start). Finn recorded 25 stops for the Raiders in the losing effort to drop his record to 3-8-3 on the season.

The River Hawks went 1-for-4 on the power play and killed off 3-for-4 power play opportunities by Colgate.   

Senior forward Evan Campbell (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) led the way for the River Hawks from the faceoff circle winning 14-of-24 (58%). Senior captain Michael Kapla (Eau Claire, Wis.) totaled a game-high five shots on goal for the River Hawks.

The River Hawks return to action in the final day of the tournament at Thompson Arena on Saturday, December 31^st to face host Dartmouth (7pm) in the Ledyard Classic Championship Game. The Big Green advanced to the title game winning a shootout (1-0) against Army West Point, after a 2-2 tie in 65 minutes of play.