(.PDF)

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior goaltender Kevin Boyle (Manalapan, N.J.) tallied a career-high 58 saves as the fouth-seeded UMass Lowell hockey team (24-8-5) topped second-seeded Providence (27-6-4), 2-1, in a three overtime period thriller to advance to the Hockey East Championship game on Friday night.
 
"We are very excited to be moving onto the Championship game," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "It was a great game out there and I thought the guys did a great job staying with the process and they went out and got the game winner."
 
The River Hawks are looking for their third Hockey East title in four years, after becoming just the fourth team in Hockey East to earn four consecutive trips  to the championship game.
 
The 112.27 minute battle was the longest game in UMass Lowell Hockey history and second longest game in Hockey East history.
 
Boyle's 58 saves recorded the 17th 50+ save game in tournament history, in addition to recording the second most saves in Hockey East semifinals history.
 
The ninth longest game in the history of NCAA Division I hockey game to an exciting end, after senior forward A.J. White (Dearborn, Mich.) tapped in the game-winning goal at 12:27 in the third overtime period. White received a pass across the crease from junior defenseman Michael Fallon (Glenview, Ill.) before putting it into the back the net to top off an already remarkable contest. 
 
The game was a fight between the top two Hockey East defenses and two of the best in NCAA, which proved to be true in a heavy defense based contest.
 
The Friars jumped out to an early 1-0 at 6:38 in the opening period, after defenseman Vincent Desharnais flicked a wrist shot from the blue line and past Boyle to notch his first career goal.
 
UMass Lowell was kept quiet the majority of the first period until junior forward Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) connected with sophomore forward C.J. Smith (Des Moines, Iowa) to knot the score 1-1 with just over a minute remaining in the first. Gambardella picked up a loose puck from behind the net before dishing it out to Smith who deked a Providence defender and lifted the puck over the goaltender and into the back of the net. 
 
In a scoreless second period, shots were even at 10-10, between the teams, as both squads locked down on their defense for a solid 20 minutes of play.
 
The River Hawks had a couple of opportunities to jump ahead, including an one timer by freshman forward Connor Wilson (Calgary, Alberta) that was spoiled by a nice save from Providence goaltender Nick Ellis.
 
UMass Lowell's best opportunity of the third period came with five minutes to play when sophomore forward Jake Kamrass (Atlanta, Ga.) and sophomore defenseman Tyler Mueller (Regina, Saskatchewan) found themselves on a 2-on-1 with the Providence goalie but could not convert, leaving the score 1-1.
 
After a second consecutive scoreless period to round out regulation play, the two teams headed into the locker rooms tied 1-1 in preparation of sudden death over time. Providence outshot the River Hawks 30-20 in regulation, but the River Hawks tight defense was enough to blank the Friars in the final two periods of regulation.
 
The first overtime continued with more back-and-forth action as both goalies made tremendous saves on shots that looked to be the game-winners. Once again, shots on goal were even between the two teams, 8-8, but nothing strong enough to get past the pads of either goaltender.
 
Another stalemate between the two squads as the end of the second overtime period came about, as neither team could find an answer for the spectacular play in both nets. Despite Providence posting the 12-4 shot advantage in the period, the score remained tied 1-1 for 81st consecutive minute.
 
Friday's meeting marked the 112th meeting between UMass Lowell and Providence, as the River Hawks close in on the all-time series, trailing 47-54-11.
 
UMass Lowell is back in action Saturday, March 18 at the TD Garden for the Hockey East Championship Game against Northeastern University, slated to begin at 7 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by NESN and nationally by NBCSN. The River Hawks won the season series vs. the Huskies, 1-0-1.