Friday, November 16th at UConn (7 p.m.)
(XL Center; Hartford, Conn.)
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Game Notes (PDF)
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Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: 980AM WCAP (JIP)/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

Non-Commercial Radio: WUML 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Brianne Dillon (Analyst)

Saturday, November 17th vs. UConn (5 p.m.)
HELLEBUYCK SHIRSEY GIVEAWAY BY DCU
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
Watch Live ($) | Listen Live | Live Stats | Tickets
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockey 

Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: 980AM WCAP/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Andy Merritt (Analyst)

Non-Commercial Radio: WUML 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Brianne Dillon (Analyst)
 

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell is 4-5-1/1-3-1 after earning just one tie in two overtime games last weekend.  The River Hawks were picked for seventh place finish by Hockey East Coaches and was placed sixth in the Media Poll.  Ryan Lohin, Kenny Hausinger and Sam Knoblauch leads the team in both goals, with four, and points with six.  Ryan Dmowski also has six points (2g, 4a).  Eleven different players have scored goals, seven have scored more than once.  Tyler Wall has started six of the team's ten games and has a 1.98 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.  Both Wall and Christoffer Hernberg have thrown shutouts.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES:  UConn is 5-4-1/2-3-1 after Tuesday night's 3-1 against Brown.  The Huskies were picked for an eighth place finish in both the Hockey East Coaches' and Media Pre-Season Polls.  Junior Alexander Payusov leads the team with eight-goals.  Freshman Jachym Kondelik tops the points chart with ten, all assists.  Adam Huska has started seven of the club's ten games and has a 2.57 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UCONN:  This is only the 35th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1969 when both were playing at a Division II level.  UMass Lowell leads the all-time series, 22-10-2. The two teams have split the nine meetings (4-4-1) since UConn joined Hockey East.  UMass Lowell has twice won holiday tournaments hosted by UConn.  They defeated the Huskies, 4-3 on a David Vallorani overtime goal, in 2011 to win the Toyota UConn Holiday Classic in Storrs, Conn. and knocked off UConn 3-1 to win the Frozen Holiday Classic in Bridgeport, Conn. in 2014.

LAST YEAR VERSUS UCONN:  UMass Lowell swept the series between the two schools a year ago.  The River Hawks defeated UConn, 5-2, at the Tsongas Center in Lowell and 1-0 in Hartford.  John Edwardh and Ryan Dmowski each had two goals for the winners the first night and Connor Wilson had the only goal in the game played at the XL Center.  River Hawk goalie Christoffer Hernberg made 23 saves and denied Benjamin Freeman on a penalty shot in picking up the win in Lowell and then earned the shutout with 33 saves in the Nutmeg State.

IN NHL BUILDINGS:  The XL Center in Hartford, where UMass Lowell and UConn will play on Friday evening, once was home to the NHL's Hartford Whalers.  The River Hawks have a 45-43-9 record in buildings that have been the home to an NHL team.  UMass Lowell is 9-9-1 in the TD Garden/Fleet Center, 4-5-0 in the old Boston Garden, 1-2-0 at the CONSOL Energy Center, 1-0-1 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, 1-2-1 at the XL Center and 29-25-6 in the Matthews Arena, the original home of the Boston Bruins then known as the Boston Arena.  Excluding the Matthews Arena, UMass Lowell is 16-18-3 in NHL Buildings.

A WIN TONIGHT WOULD...:  ...move UMass Lowell back to the .500 mark and also move UMass Lowell into a tie with UConn in the Hockey East standings.  It would also end a two-game winless streak.

LAST WEEKEND:  UMass Lowell went into overtime twice last weekend, but only earned a single point.  Ryan Lohin scored two extra attacker goals 27-seconds apart late in the third period as UMass Lowell and New Hampshire, Friday, battled to a 2-2 tie at the Tsongas Center.  Saturday UMass Lowell twice held a two-goal lead against Northeastern, but lost in overtime, 5-4.  Lohin had two-goals and an assist in the Saturday game.

PLAYING WITH THE EXTRA SKATER: When UMass Lowell scored twice with an extra attacker on the ice last Friday night against UNH it was the first extra attacker goal that the River Hawks had scored in a bit more than a year.  The last extra attacker goal had come on October 28, 2017 when Ryan Dmowski scored with 1:38 left on the clock to tie the score at four.  Northeastern went on to win in overtime.

TWO WITH AN EXTRA ATTACKER: UMass Lowell scored two extra attacker goals last Friday night to earn a 2-2 tie with New Hampshire.  The River Hawks had not scored two six on five goals in the same game since October 16, 2010 when they worked the magic in a game against RIT at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.  The first was scored by Michael Scheu on a delayed penalty at 12:22 of the third period.  The second came at 19:59 of the third period with the goalie pulled.

A TIE..?:  Last Friday night's 2-2 tie with New Hampshire ended a streak of 69 games (703 days) without a tie.  The last time the River Hawks played a game without a winner was December 4, 2016 when UMass Lowell and UConn ended the night with two goals apiece.  UMass Lowell was the only team in the country without a tie during the 2017-18 season. It was only the second time in their 35-year Division I history that the team has completed a full season without at least one tie.  The first occurrence was 1998-99 when the River Hawks went 17-17-0.  During the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a Division II program, ULowell went more than five seasons, 177 games, without a tie.

BONUS TIME - NO BONUS: Overtime has not been kind to UMass Lowell over the last two-plus seasons.  The River Hawks are 1-9-4 in their last 14 overtime games dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season.  The one win came on a Connor Wilson goal, Jan. 19th, at Vermont.  The last OT win before Wilson's goal came on March 26, 2016 when the River Hawks defeated Yale, 3-2, in the NCAA Regional.

DON'T SHOOT:  UMass Lowell held UNH to just 11 shots on goal in 65-minutes of hockey last Friday night.  That's the fewest shots on goal allowed by UMass Lowell since holding Alabama-Huntsville to just ten shots on goal in a UMass Lowell 4-1 win on October 26, 2007.

GETTING IN THE WAY:  UMass Lowell leads Hockey East in total blocked shots.  The River Hawks have blocked 125 shots in ten games this season, an average of 12.50 shots blocked per game.  Defenseman Mattias Goransson leads the team with 13 blocks.  Defensemen Anthony Baxter and Croix Evingson and Forward Ryan Lohin are all in double digits as well.

LOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY:  UMass Lowell has not won consecutive games since winning three in a row January 5, 6 and 12 of 2018.  The wins came against Vermont (6-0), Massachusetts (8-3) and Arizona State (4-0).

TURNING ON THE POWER:  UMass Lowell scored three times on the power play last Saturday night at Northeastern.  That snapped an oh-for-21 power outage. The power play has scored in just two of its last seven games and has an 18.2 success rate for the season.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: The UMass Lowell freshmen class has been key to the River Hawk offense.  The group, with eight-goals and 22-points, is the top scoring of the four classes.  The class is second in Hockey East in goals and third in points.  Sam Knoblauch is tied for the league lead in goals by a freshman with four.  He is sixth in points with six.

A CHILD SHALL LEAD:  UMass Lowell freshmen Sam Knoblauch is part of a four-way tie for the team lead in points with six and one of three players with four-goals. Knoblauch is one of just two Hockey East freshmen to lead their teams in scoring.  Jachym Kondelik leads UConn with ten-points, all assists.

ON THE ROAD: UMass Lowell is 88-55-9, a .609 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the seven-plus years that Norm Bazin has led the program.  That .609 winning percentage is the fourth best in the nation during that period.    The River Hawks are 64-43-8, .590, as the road team and 24-11-1, .681, in games played at a neutral site.

ROAD WARRIORS: Several River Hawks appear to feel right at home when they are on the road.  Sam Knoblauch has scored five (3g, 2a) of his six points this season on the road.  Lucas Condotta has scored his five-points (2g, 3a) in enemy buildings and Nick Master has scored three (2g, 1a) of four on the road. 

HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell is 83-37-13 (a .673 winning percentage) at the Tsongas Center since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench for the 2011-12 season.  In 2017-18 the River Hawks were 10-8-0 on home ice.  They are 1-2-0 this season.  The last time the River Hawks had a losing record at home was 2010-11 when the home team went 4-12-0.

HOME COOKING: River Hawk seniors Ryan Dmowski and Connor Wilson have flourished at home in the early going.  Dmowski has scored five of his six points in front of the Tsongas Center faithful.  Wilson has three of his five points at home.

BLACKMUN FOR THE DEFENSE: Chase Blackmun became the first UMass Lowell defenseman to score a goal this season when he found the back of the net November 2nd in the first period against Maine.  The River Hawk defense corps has a two-goals and 15-assists through ten games.  The 17-points puts UMass Lowell fifth in points from the defense in Hockey East.  A year ago the UMass Lowell defensemen were among the highest scoring in the nation with 26-goals and 89-points.  Among Hockey East teams this season only UConn and Boston College have fewer goals.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES:  UMass Lowell forward Connor Wilson has three-goals and five-points in ten games.  A year ago Wilson did not get his third goal or fifth point until the 14th game of the season.  Charlie Levesque is also three-points ahead of last year's pace.  Goalie Tyler Wall has also made a jump.  A year ago he showed an 0-5-0 record with a 4.99 Goals Against Average and an .825 save percentage.  This year Wall is 2-3-1 with a 1.98 GAA and a .924 Sv%.

CARRYING THE WEIGHT:  UMass Lowell is the second biggest team in the country based on average weight.  The River Hawks tip the scales at an average 193.83-pounds.  Only Hockey East rival UConn is heavier averaging 194.23-pounds.

THE CENTURY CLUB: Three members of the UMass Lowell roster have played more than 100 games in their collegiate careers.  Nick Master leads the group with 123 games in a River Hawk uniform.  Connor Wilson (108) and Ryan Dmowski (105) joined the club earlier this season.  Next on the list are Ryan Lohin (83), Mattias Göransson (82) and Colin O'Neill (81).  A year ago UMass Lowell had six players on the roster with more than 100 games played in their collegiate careers. 

NEXT WEEKEND:  The River Hawks will step out of conference next weekend for a pair of games.  UMass Lowell will play a home-and-home series with Rensselaer.  Friday the two will meet at the Tsongas Center, Sunday they will play in Troy, New York.  Both games are 4:00pm starts.  UMass Lowell leads the all-time series 13-10-1.  The two teams have not faced one another since January 13, 2017.  UMass Lowell won that contest, 5-1.

BACK-TO-BACK:  This is the sixth of 15 "back-to-back" series that UMass Lowell will play this year.  A week ago the River Hawks came up with a tie and a loss in games against UNH and Northeastern.  UMass Lowell is 2-2-1 after five first nights and 2-3-0 on the second after five weekends.  The River Hawks played back-to-back games on 17 weekends during the 2017-18 season.  UML had four sweeps to its credit, eight splits and also were swept five times.  UML was 10-7-0 on the first night, 5-12-0 on the second.  In 2016-17 the River Hawks were 11-6-1/11-5-2.  UMass Lowell authored seven sweeps and were swept just twice.

BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 53-41-22, .556, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season.  The team is 2-4-1 this year in one-goal games.  The River Hawks played 12 one-goal games a year ago.  The results were split down the middle 6-6-0. 

A GOOD START: UMass Lowell has allowed just five first period goals ten games into the season.  Only two Hockey East teams have better numbers.  Both Providence and UMass have allowed only four first period goals in nine games.  The River Hawks have outscored opponents 6-5 in the first period.

THE FINAL THIRD: Nine games into a new season and the River Hawks have outscored their opponents 12-goals to nine in the third period of play.  That continues a trend seen a year ago.  UMass Lowell outscored opponents by 15-goals in the third period during the 2017-18 season.  That was the sixth highest goal differential in the country.

THE 2019 SENIOR CLASS: The six-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 72-45-9, a .607 winning percentage.  The class ranks second in Hockey East in wins and third in winning percentage.  The class which includes forwards Ryan Dmowski, Connor Wilson, Nick Master and Keith Burchett and defenseman Avni Berisha and goalie Christoffer Hernberg has won one HEA regular season title, a tournament championship, four in-season tournaments and made two appearances in the NCAA tournament.  The class ranks fifth among UML teams.  The 2016 senior class tops the list with 100 victories.

FRESH FACES: The River Hawk recruiting class of 13 is the largest in the country and the second largest during the Norm Bazin era.  Walk on Derek Osik earned a spot on the roster during the pre-season tryouts.  UConn, Niagara and Quinnipiac also have 12 freshmen on the roster.  Bazin's largest freshman class was during the 2014-15 season when UMass Lowell welcomed 14 freshmen.  A year ago the freshmen class numbered just a half dozen.