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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The No. 5 ranked UMass Lowell Hockey team was defeated at Providence College, 3-2, on Saturday night in the Hockey East series finale at Schneider Arena.

With the loss, the River Hawks drop to 15-7-3 overall (7-5-1 HEA), while the Friars up their mark to 12-8-4 overall (4-6-2 HEA) with the victory.

Junior forward Tommy Panico (Wall, N.J.) scored just his second career goal for the River Hawks with a slapshot from the right point with 10:12 left to play in the opening period to open the scoring in the game. The Friars' Ryan Tait struck back to make it a 1-1 game less than seven minutes later.

Freshman netminder Tyler Wall (Leamington, Ont.) made his 19^th collegiate start for the River Hawks, finishing the night with 32  stops, including 12 saves in the third frame. Hayden Hawkey managed 19 saves in his 12^th win of the season for Providence.  

The teams traded goals in the second as junior forward John Edwardh (Calgary, Alta.) notched a power play tally with a wrister from the right faceoff circle just 4:23 into the second to give the River Hawks a 2-1 advantage, but Kasper Bjorkqvist tied the game at 2-2 with 4:26 left in the middle stanza.

Providence's Scott Conway recorded his ninth goal of the year for the game-winning marker with 9:01 left to cap off the scoring in the game.

Senior forward Evan Campbell (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) led the River Hawks with 14 faceoff wins in the losing effort. Senior forward Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) also chipped in with 12 faceoff victories.

The River Hawks return to action on Friday, January 27^th against Northeastern. Game time from the Tsongas Center is 6 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by American Sports Network (ASN) and regionally on New England Sports Network (NESN).  

To purchase individual tickets or mini plans for any of the River Hawks second half schedule, visit www.TsongasCenter.com. To save with a group of 10 or more, contact Jonathan Healy at Jonathan_Healy@uml.edu or by phone at (978) 934-6280.