Tuesday, February 16th at American International (7pm)
(Olympia Ice Center; West Springifeld, Mass.)
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Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell is ranked 11th in the USCHO and 12th in the USA Hockey Magazine poll and has been nationally ranked for 86 consecutive weeks. The River Hawks are 18-7-5 (11-5-4, HEA) through 30 games. Eighteen different players have scored goals; Sophomore C.J. Smith and senior Adam Chapie lead the team with 13 goals. Smith tops the point charts with 30.  Senior goalie Kevin Boyle has started 29 of 30 games for the River Hawks and has a 1.79 GAA and a .934 Sv%.  
 
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS: American International is 6-24-2 (6-17-2, AHA) after splitting a pair of games with RIT last weekend.  Eighteen different players on the roster have scored goals for the Yellow Jackets.  Austin Orszulak leads the team with 10-goals and 22 points.  Goalie Alex Murray carries a 3.57 GAA and a .907 save percentage into tonight's contest.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. AIC:  This is the 17th meeting between UMass Lowell and American International, but only the second in more than 30 years.  The two teams have split the previous 16 games right down the middle, 8-8-0.  Six of the matches went to overtime.  The first ever meeting between the two clubs, Feb. 5, 1970, resulted in an 9-4 AIC win.  UMass Lowell won the most recent outing, 6-1, on Dec. 3, 2013.
 
LAST TIME OUT:  UMass Lowell defeated Boston University, 6-3, on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center.  Dylan Zink had three goals, Adam Chapie added two.  Goalie Kevin Boyle made 35 saves to earn the win. 
 
STAND ALONE: UMass Lowell is playing only its third "stand alone" game this season.   The River Hawks defeated RPIU, 3-0, in the season open and knocked UNH, 1-0, in its only other one-game weekend scenario.  The club has played 14 two-game weekend series this season.  The River Hawks are 7-4-3 on the first night of back-to-back games and 9-3-2 in the second game.  The River Hawks have four weekend sweeps to their credit.
 
A TWENTY YEAR WAIT: When Dylan Zink scored three goals against Boston University, it was the first time in twenty years that a River Hawk defensemen had turned a hat trick.  The last D-man to do it was Dave Barozzino who found the back of the net three times, March 26, 1996, against Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament.
 
HOCKEY EAST HONORS: UMass Lowell defenseman Dylan Zink was honored as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week after scoring three times in the UMass Lowell, 6-3 win against Boston University.
 
TICK, TICK, TICK: Adam Chapie's two goals in nine-seconds are the two fastest by a single player in UMass Lowell's 33-year Division I history.  Gary Bishop, who scored goals :08 apart in 1968, holds the school record.
 
UMASS LOWELL VS. OTHER CONFERENCES: The River Hawks have played ten non-conference games this season holding a record of 7-2-1.  UMass Lowell has taken three of four from the NCHC after sweeping a two game set from Colorado College and splitting two games with Minnesota-Duluth.  UMass Lowell also defeated ECAC members RPI, 3-0, in the season opener and Clarkson and tied Brown, 5-5.  UMass Lowell lost its only contest against an AHA school when it dropped a 5-3 decision to Robert Morris.  The River Hawks have also swept a weekend series from Division I Independent, Arizona State.
 
99 AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell junior center Joe Gambardella is expected to play in his 100th game in a River Hawk jersey tonight.  He will be the sixth member of the current team to reach that milestone.  Gambardella has 68 points (25g, 43a) in those 99 games.
 
WHERE NO TEAM HAS GONE BEFORE: UMass Lowell is the first Hockey East team to visit the Olympia Ice Center.  Previous meeting between the two teams have been played at various UML home sites or elsewhere in western Massachusetts.
 
WHO'S NEXT?: UMass Lowell returns to action and the Tsongas center on Friday for a non-conference match up with Massachusetts.  The third game between the two was scheduled to help decide the Alumni Cup.  The River won the first two meetings between the clubs this season and have clinched the 2016 Alumni Cup series.
 
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: UMass Lowell is ranked 11th in the USCHO and 12th in the USA Hockey Magazine Polls.  The River Hawks have been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USA Today poll, for 86 consecutive weeks.  The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013.  Of those 85 weeks more than half, 55, have been spent in the top ten.
 
SENIOR CLASS:  The current UMass Lowell senior class is the second winningest senior class in the school's Division I hockey history.  With five games remaining in the regular season the senior group has a record of 93-41-17, a .672 winning percentage.  Only the 2015 class totaled more wins; that class went 99-47-13, .664.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: UMass Lowell has the nation's 16th best winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center.  The River Hawks have a combined Away/Neutral Site record of 8-5-2, good for .600 winning percentage. 
 
FREINDLY CONFINES: UMass Lowell has the tenth best home winning percentage in the nation.  The River Hawks are 10-2-3 at home, good for a .767 winning percentage.  Their 1.40 GAA at home is the best in the nation.
 
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST:  UMass Lowell is the second best defensive team in the country.  That's what the stats say.  The River Hawks have allowed 1.77 goals per game, just a couple of ticks behind Yale (1.60.)
 
TIGHTENING UP THE D:  Through the first 30 games of the season Mass Lowell has allowed 28 fewer goals than it did a year ago.  That translates to .93 goals per game.  A year ago the River Hawks had a 2.70 GAA at this point in the season.  The team carries a 1.77 GAA into tonight's game.
 
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER: Twelve different players have scored game winning goals for the River Hawks this season.  Ryan McGrath leads the team with three.  Joe Gambardella, Adam Chapie, C.J. Smith and Michael Kapla each have two.
 
MORE TV:  UMass Lowell and NESN have announced that the Saturday, February 27th, UMass Lowell Hockey game against Boston College, at the Tsongas Center, will be aired live on NESN.  It is the regular season finale.
 
IN THE CLUTCH: For the second consecutive season defenseman Dylan Zink is proving to be Mr. Clutch.  Six of his nine goals this season have either given the River Hawks the lead or tied the score.  13 of his 19 career goals are defined as "clutch."  Forwards C. J. Smith and Adam Chapie are second on the team in "clutch goals" with five.  Four of Chapie's five goals have given the River Hawks the lead, one has tied the game.  Smith has three "lead" goals and two that have tied the game.   
 
WHO'S HOT:
Jake Kamrass, seven points in last seven games, (4g, 3a, 7pts.)
A. J. White, points in eight of last nine games, (6g, 6a, 12pts.)
C. J. Smith, points in 18 of last 24 games (12g, 17a, 29pts.)
Adam Chapie, points in five of last six games (3g, 5a, 8pts.)
Joe Gambardella, points in 18 of last 24 games (5g, 20a, 25pts.)
 
BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: Sixteen of UMass Lowell's first 30 games this season have been decided by one-goal.  The team is 6-5-5 in those games and 36-23-18 (.584) since Norm Bazin took over the program for the 2011-12 season.  Last year UMass Lowell played only ten games decided by a single goal or less (2-2-4.) 
 
CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has the 20th best face-off win percentage in college hockey (51.2%) and the fifth best in Hockey East.  With three centermen winning more often than not, the River Hawks have won 989 of 1,932 puck drops.   Entering tonight's contest Freshman Nick Master (247 of 457, 54.0%) and senior Michael Fallon (161 of 298, 54.0%) are the top face-off men.  Junior Evan Campbell (191-169, 53.1%)is also over the .500 mark.
 
FIVE YEAR RUN?: The 2015-16 edition of the River Hawks, with 18 wins to their credit, can make a bit of history with a 20-win season.  The Hockey program has never had five straight 20-win seasons.  UMass Lowell has won at least 20 games in four consecutive years for the first time in the school's Division I history.  A fifth straight 20-win season would match the Division II run of the ULowell Chiefs who won 20-plus games per season from 1978-79 through the 1982-83.  The River Hawks have had 13 20-win seasons in their history.
 
DID YOU KNOW?:
UMass Lowell has given up only 13 goals in the first period; the second fewest first period goals allowed in the country... Goalie Kevin Boyle is 8-2-3 with a 1.41 GAA and a .944 Sv% at the Tsongas Center...A.J. White has played in 136 straight UMass Lowell games...Michael Kapla has never missed a game in his UMass Lowell career, he has played in 110 straight games... UMass Lowell has been limited to just one goal seven times this season but that has resulted in just three losses... When UMass Lowell lost to Robert Morris 5-3, it was the first time all season that the River Hawks have trailed two goals at any point in a game... The River Hawks have had their bags packed for much of the season.  With trips to Duluth, Pittsburgh and Belfast, Northern Ireland UMass Lowell has logged more than 11-thousand miles this season... The only Division I teams that UMass Lowell has never played are Bemidji State and Mercyhurst... For the first time in school history, five former River Hawks are playing in the NHL at the same time; Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Scott Wilson (Pittsburgh), Christian Folin (Minnesota), Carter Hutton (Nashville) and Ron Hainsey (Carolina.)
 
MODEL OF CONSISTENCY:  UMass Lowell has been a model of consistency, losing back-to-back games only twice this season.   The River Hawks have only had two losing streaks of three or more games since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench for the 2011-12 season and that has happened just twice.
 
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is most likely to win.  That has been the case in the Norm Bazin era.    When scoring two-goals in a game, the River Hawks are just under the .500 mark since Bazin came aboard for the 2011-12 season.  That all changes when a third goal is scored.  Below is a closer look at the numbers.
  
                When Lowell scores 0 goals:           0-9-0          .000
                When Lowell scores 1 goal:           5-12-5          .341
                When Lowell scores 2 goals:       16-19-8          .465
                When Lowell scores 3 goals:       32-11-3          .728
                When Lowell scores 4 goals:         27-3-1          .887
                When Lowell scores 5 goals:         17-0-1          .972
                When Lowell scores 6 goals:         13-0-0        1.000
                When Lowell scores 7 goals:           4-0-0        1.000
                When Lowell scores 8 goals:           4-0-0        1.000
 
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 89-5-7 when leading after two-periods.  They are also 20-10-5 when the score is tied after two periods.  UMass Lowell is 36-21-18 in games decided by one goal.  Also, during that time period the River Hawks are 10-6-18 in games decided in overtime.  When UMass Lowell has a two-goal lead at any point in the game they are 93-4-2 and 44-0-2 at the Tsongas Center.