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BOSTON, Mass. – The No. 4 UMass Lowell Hockey team (26-10-3, 14-7-1 HEA) earned a 5-1 win against No. 10 Notre Dame (21-12-5, 12-6-4 HEA) in the Hockey East semifinals on Friday night at the TD Garden, advancing to the conference tournament championship for the seventh time in program history. 
 
UMass Lowell will make its fifth consecutive trip to the Hockey East Championship Game, the longest active streak and second most consecutive appearances in conference history to Maine's seven (1987-93). The River Hawks will look to grab their third Hockey East Tournament Championship in five years, after winning back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014.
 
Despite trailing 1-0 in the first period, the UMass Lowell strung together five consecutive goals to soar to a 5-1 victory and 25th win of the 2016-17 season. The River Hawks only trailed for 25 seconds in the contest, while the offense was aided by a two-goal second period.
 
Freshman forward Ryan Lohin (Chadds Ford, Pa.) notched a career- and game-high three points (1g, 2a), while classmate Kenny Hausinger (Anchorage, Alaska) dished out two helpers to match a career best. Freshman goaltender Tyler Wall (Leamington, Ont.) recorded 19 saves en route to his 24th win of the season. His 24 wins ranks first in the nation among freshman goaltenders.
 
"We are excited to be advancing as we knew it would be a great challenge," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "I am very please with how the team responded to the fluky first goal. We kept the traffic up for most of the game and we were able to get ahead of it. There was good work on our part away from the puck, the guys supported each other and we were able to carry the play throughout the game."
 
Notre Dame struck first, thanks to Jack Jenkins' long range wrist flick that bounced past Wall for the 1-0 lead. After a UMass Lowell turnover left Jenkins alone in the neutral zone, he flicked a shot, untouched, through open ice and into the back of the net for the visitors lone score of the night at 7:00.
 
Nearly 25 second later Colin O'Neil (Odenton, Md.) and the River Hawks knotted the score 1-1. After collecting a loose rebound, Hausinger connected with O'Neil who poked one home for his sixth tally of the season. UMass Lowell later grabbed their first lead of the contest at 9:31 with a marker by Lohin, for the 2-1 score.
 
UMass Lowell continued to pound the Notre Dame zone in the second half, placing 17 shots on net to eventually add on to their one goal cushion. Junior forward C.J. Smith (Des Moines, Iowa) joined the scoring with a one timer at 6:34, before senior defenseman Michael Kapla (Eau Claire, Wis.) gave his team a three goal edge, 4-1, to cap off the second period scoring.
 
Freshman forward Nick Marin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) would eventually round out the River Hawk scoring with the squad's fifth goal of the night just 2:58 in the the final period. The team went on to out outshoot the Fighting Irish 41-20 in the tilt, including 11-3 in the third frame.
 
UMass Lowell will face No. 3 Boston College in the 33rd annual Hockey East Championship Game on Saturday, March 18th. Puck drop is set for 7:05 from the TD Garden in Boston. It marks the first meeting between the schools in the HEA title game.