Friday, January 18th vs. Vermont (7:15pm)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
STAR WARS WEEKEND | ROWDY JEDI BOBBLE HEAD BY XFINITY
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Game Notes (PDF)Â |
90 Seconds with Norm
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockeyÂ
Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: 980AMÂ WCAP/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent:
Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Cleve Kinley (Analyst)
Non-Commercial Radio: WUMLÂ 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Brianne Dillon (Analyst)
Saturday, January 19th vs. Vermont (6PM)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
STAR WARS WEEKEND | 501ST REBEL LEGION
Watch Live ($) |
Listen Live |
Live Stats |
Tickets
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockeyÂ
Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: 980AMÂ WCAP/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent:
Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Andy Merritt (Analyst)
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell is 11-8-1/5-4-1 after weekend sweep, 3-0 and 4-1, at Colgate in their first ever visit to the Class of 1965 Arena. The club has won nine of twelve road games. The River Hawks, for the first time this season, have a three-game winning streak. The River Hawks are sitting in sixth place in the Hockey East standings. UMass Lowell was picked for a seventh place finish by Hockey East Coaches and was placed sixth in the Media Poll. Ryan Lohin leads the team in goals with eight and points with 17.  Seventeen different players have scored goals, fifteen have scored more than once. Tyler Wall has started twelve of the team's 20-games and has a 2.22 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. Christoffer Hernberg has won his last four starts and has a 1.47 GAA and .949 Sv.% over his last five appearances. Both Wall and Christoffer Hernberg have two shutouts to their credit.
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS:  Vermont is 8-11-1 / 1-8-1 after dropping a pair of games last weekend at Massachusetts, 4-1, 5-1. The Catamounts sit in 11th place in Hockey East, but are 7-3-0 in non-conference games. They are 4-5-1 at home and 4-6-0 playing away from the Gutterson Fieldhouse. Vermont was picked to finish tenth in the Coaches' Pre-Season Polls and ninth in the Media Pre-Season Poll. Sixteen different players have scored goals, eleven have more than one. Max Kaufman and Jimmy Cipollone top the scoring charts with six goals apiece; Kaufman leads the team with 12 points. Stefanos Lekkas has played in of the team's 20 games in nets and has a 2.38 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. Only five goalies in the country have logged more playing time.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. VERMONT: This is the 53rd meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1972. UMass Lowell leads the all-time series, 28-17-7. The River Hawks took two of three games from Vermont a year ago, but the Catamounts did end a ten game winless streak in the process. Since Vermont joined Hockey East for the 2005-06 season, UMass Lowell has held a 24-11-7 edge in play. Twenty-three of the 42 games have been decided by one goal or less. The River Hawks have won five of six Hockey East tournament meetings between the two and have eliminated Vermont from the post season on three occasions.
LAST YEAR vs. VERMONT: UMass Lowell took two of three games against the Catamounts last season. Six different players scored goals and Christoffer Hernberg stopped 21 shots as UMass Lowell defeated Vermont, 6-0, on January 5, 2018 at the Tsongas Center. The two teams split as pair of games at the Gutterson Fieldhouse, January 19th and 20th. The River Hawks overcame a two-goal third period deficit to win in overtime, 3-2 on the Friday night. Vermont took the Saturday night game 6-3.
WORKING OVERTIME AGAINST VERMONT: When these two teams meet, overtime is a distinct possibility. Eleven of the last 31 games (35.5%) between UMass Lowell and Vermont have required extra time. Thirteen of the 52 games (25.0%), all-time, between the two have gone into overtime. Vermont has won three in OT, UMass Lowell has won three and seven have gone into the books as a tie.
 1-0: UMass Lowell and Vermont have played four 1-0 games since 2008. Vermont won the first of those 1-0 games, UML won the remaining three including one in overtime on a Joe Houk goal with 15-seconds remaining on the clock.
ONE-GOAL GAMES: Twenty-four of the 52 games (46.2%) played between the two teams have been decided by one-goal or less. Lowell has won nine, Vermont has won eight, seven have ended as a tie.
A WIN TONIGHT WOULD...: ...move UMass Lowell to four games over the .500 mark overall for the first time this season and the first time since beating American International, 4-0, on February 6, 2018. It would be the first time that the River Hawks have won four consecutive games this season and the first time since winning four straight in November of 2017.
HOBEY CANDIDATES: Senior goaltender Christoffer Hernberg and junior co-captain Ryan Lohin have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. Online fan voting has now commenced for the most prestigious individual award in college hockey and will continue through the night of March 10th. Hernberg has started eight of 20 games for the River Hawks so far this season, posting a 6-2-0 record with a 2.16 GAA and a .919 save percentage to go along with two shutouts. Lohin leads the River Hawks with 17 points and eight goals in 16 games this season.
THE ROAD TO THE GARDEN: Hockey East has announced the 2019 Road to the Garden Tour. The 11th annual tour will feature one of the most recognizable trophies in college hockey, as Hockey East once again brings the Lou Lamoriello Trophy, awarded annually to the Hockey East Tournament champion, to each of the 11 Hockey East campuses. The Trophy will make its Tsongas Center appearance on Saturday as the River Hawks host Vermont. The Road to the TD Garden campaign will be completed ahead of the 35th annual league tournament, March 22-23, 2019.
35TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM VOTING: Hockey East announced this week that fan voting for the Hockey East 35th Anniversary Team is now open. The selection of the all star team is part of the conference's year-long celebration of 35 years of excellence. Fans can vote for a team of 35 forwards and 35 defenders, including defensemen and goaltenders, as part of the 35th anniversary celebration until February 15. Votes can be submitted by visiting HockeyEastOnLine.com. The special team will be chosen by a combination of fan voting and league committee voting, consisting of league staff, school staff and members of the media.
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU:Â This is the Star Wars weekend, one of the most popular UMass Lowell Hockey promotions. The first 1,000 fans, Friday, will receive a Rowdy Jedi Bobble Head, courtesy of XFinity. Saturday fans will get the chance to meet characters from Star Wars in the lobby and on the concourse throughout the night. Last year, Darth Vader and R2D2 made appearances. Costumes are encouraged and Star Wars will be the theme of the weekend.
LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell swept a series from Colgate at the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, New York. Sophomore forward Connor Sodergren scored twice and goalie Christoffer Hernberg made 25 saves as UMass Lowell defeated Colgate, 3-0, in the opener. Ryan Lohin had two-goals and an assist the second night in a 4-1 victory. Hernberg made 23 saves to pick up the win.
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM: The weekend sweep at Colgate finished off the UMass Lowell non-conference schedule. The River Hawks more than held their own this season and over the eight years that Norm Bazin has been behind the bench. The club finished its ten game non-conference schedule with a 6-4-0 record. UMass Lowell is 82-34-6 (.697) in non-conference games since the 2011-12 season.
TAKING ON THE ECAC: With the UMass Lowell weekend sweep of Colgate the River Hawks hold a significant edge in non-conference games against the ECAC. The River Hawks are 105-76-12 against teams representing the ECAC and is 94-61-10 against teams currently in the ECAC. UMass Lowell took three out of four a year ago and won five of six during the 2016-17 season. This year the River Hawks have again took three of four games against ECAC opponents. Coach Norm Bazin is 23-9-3 against the ECAC.
THE REST OF THE WAY: UMass Lowell has just 14 games remaining on the regular season schedule. Those 14 games are against seven different Hockey East opponents. The seven opponents have a combined record of 73-58-15, a .551 winning percentage. The numbers change once you factor in the number of games versus each opponent, 130-131-32 .498.
LOOKING FOR SOME CONSISTENCY: The River Hawks have, for the first time this season, won three consecutive games. It was the third time the club had won two in a row, but the first time they were able to extend that number. UMass Lowell had not won more than two straight since winning three in a row January 5, 6 and 12 of 2018. Those wins came against Vermont (6-0), Massachusetts (8-3) and Arizona State (4-0). The team has not won four in a row since November of 2017 and to find a five game winning streak you have to go back to the 2016-17 season when UMass Lowell won seventh in a row in February.
AFTER A LOSS: UMass Lowell has done a good job avoiding any extended losing streak. Six times this season the River Hawks have followed a loss with a win, only twice has the hockey club lost consecutive games and they have not had a three-game losing streak.
THE HERNBERG WALL: Goalie Christoffer Hernberg picked up his second shutout of the year last Friday night making 25 saves in a 3-0 win. It was his second shutout of the year and the seventh of his career. He is fifth on the all-time shutout list. Connor Hellebuyck tops the list with 12. Hernberg's seven shutouts have come in a span of 29 starts. He followed his most recent shutout allowing just one-goal while stopping 23 shots in a 4-1 win at Colgate. Hernberg has won six of his last seven starts and has a 1.80 GAA and a .932 sv% in his last eight appearances.
BACK-TO-BACK: This the tenth of 15 "back-to-back" series that UMass Lowell will play this year. UMass Lowell is 5-3-1 on the first night and 5-4-0 on the second. They have two sweeps on the board. The first came against UConn, November 16th and 17th, with 5-2 and 3-0 wins and the River Hawks added a second sweep weekend with 3-0 and 4-1 wins against Colgate a week ago. The River Hawks have not been swept this season. A year ago the team played back-to-back games on 17 weekends and 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.
GOING SOLO: UMass Lowell has played two stand-alone games this season. The River Hawks lost to Denver, 4-1, on December 29th and then defeated Massachusetts, 2-1, on January 4th. There are two more stand-alone games on the schedule. A year ago the River Hawks split a pair of stand-alone games.
NEXT WEEKEND: The River Hawks will return to the ice next weekend for a home-and-home series against Boston College. The two will play at the Conte Forum on Friday and the Tsongas Center on Saturday. The Eagles lead the all-time series 65-40-9. BC took two of three a year ago, but the River Hawks have won five of the last seven.
HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell is 84-40-13 (a .661 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 2-5-1 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: Ryan Lohin with six points in seven games at the Tsongas Center leads the River Hawks in scoring at home. Kenny Hausinger leads the club with three goals on home ice.  Seth Barton has five of his seven points at home. Ryan Dmowski and Mattias Göransson also have five points at home.
ON THE ROAD: UMass Lowell is 9-3-0, a .750 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center this season. The nine wins are the most in the country and that .750 road winning percentage is fifth best in the country.
ON THE ROAD, AGAIN: UMass Lowell is 94-55-9, a .623 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the seven-plus years that Norm Bazin has led the program. That .623 winning percentage is the fourth best in the nation during that period. The River Hawks are 70-43-8, .612, 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. Ryan Lohin has scored 11 of his 17-points in nine road games.   Connor Sodergren has scored ten of his 12-points in enemy rinks. Sam Knoblauch has scored seven (3g, 4a) of his eight points this season on the road. Charlie Levesque scored seven of his ten points and Lucas Condotta has scored all of his seven-points (3g, 4a) in enemy buildings. Kenny Hausinger has seen eight of his 11-points come on the road.Â
93 AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell's visit last weekend to the Class of 1965 Arena at Colgate, a building that opened for business during the 2016-17 season, pushed the number of buildings in which UMass Lowell has played hockey to at least 93. Previous visits to Colgate found the two teams playing in the Starr Rink. Early this season the Bentley Arena became building No. 92. The long list includes stops stretching from Alaska to Belfast, Northern Ireland and from Arizona to Maine.
LOHIN BEHOLD: UMass Lowell forward Ryan Lohin has lifted his game in the last two months. Lohin has eight-goals and 16-points in a twelve game span. That included a career-best seven game scoring streak. He has only been held off the score sheet in two of his last twelve games.
PUTTING THE D IN THE O: The UMass Lowell defense corps has become a significant contributor to the River Hawk offense during the last eleven games. After scoring just one-goal and adding ten-assists during the first eight games of the season the blueliners have contributed eight-goals and 24-points to the offense in the last dozen games. During that stretch the River Hawks have averaged 3.08-goals per game after averaging 2.38-goals per game during the first eight contests of the year. The eight goals is the most by a Hockey East defense since November 9. The UMass Lowell defense corps is fourth in Hockey East in goals and fifth in points. A year ago the UMass Lowell defensemen were among the highest scoring in the nation with 26-goals and 89-points.
IN THE CLUTCH: Ryan Dmowski leads UMass Lowell with four clutch goals. A "clutch goal" is defined as a goal that either ties the score or gives the team the lead in a hockey game. Connor Wilson and Kenny Hausinger have three-clutch goals apiece. Dmowski and Hausinger, each, have three "lead" goals. Wilson and Ryan Lohin led the team a year ago with six clutch goals each.
FLUXUATIONS IN THE POWER GRID: The UMass Lowell power play has been on on-again off-again proposition. The River Hawks scored three times on the power play November 10th at Northeastern. That snapped an oh-for-21 power outage. The River Hawks also picked up a power play goal in the following game against UConn, but is currently on a 3-for-27 stretch over its last nine games. The PP Unit has scored in just six of its last 17 games and has a 16.3 success rate for the season.
PENALTY KILLING?: The UMass Lowell penalty killing unit has hit a rough stretch. The River Hawks have allowed power play goals in six of their last eight games. UMass Lowell has successfully killed just 14 of the last 21 shorthanded situations. The River Hawks are 5-3-0 in those eight games and the PK success rate has dropped to 80.8 on the season. Â
DOMINATING THE DOT: After a slow start, UMass Lowell is now dominating at the faceoff circle. The River Hawks have won 612 of 1,191 puck drops, a winning percentage of 51.4%, fourth best in Hockey East. The turnaround has come during the last 14 games. UMass Lowell has won 435 of 813 faceoffs, 53.5%, the second best in Hockey East since November 2nd. Top performances at the dot have come from Charlie Levesque and Lucas Condotta. During the 14 game stretch Levesque has won 103 of 168 draws, 61.3%, and Condotta has won 85 of 151, 56.3%.
GETTING IN THE WAY: UMass Lowell is third in Hockey East in blocked shots per game. The River Hawks have blocked 247 shots in 20-games this season, an average of 12.35 shots blocked per game. Defenseman Mattias Göransson leads the team with 37 blocks. He is third in Hockey East. Defensemen Anthony Baxter, Croix Evingson, Seth Barton, Jon McDonald, Avni Berisha and Forwards Ryan Lohin, Connor Wilson, Charlie Levesque, Sam Knoblauch and Colin O'Neill are all in double digits as well.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: The UMass Lowell freshmen class has been key to the River Hawk offense. The group, with 15-goals and 40-points, is second in scoring of the four classes. The class is second in Hockey East in goals and fourth in points. Reid Stefanson (3g, 6a) is the top scoring River Hawk freshmen.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: UMass Lowell forward Connor Sodergren has four-goals and twelve-points in 20-games. A year ago Sodergren did not get to twelve. He finished the year with four goals and ten points. His fourth goal and tenth point came in his 32nd, the team's 45th, game. Forward Chris Schutz has two-goals and six points. A year ago he was still looking for his first point of his collegiate career. Goalie Tyler Wall has also made a jump. A year ago he showed an 0-6-0 record with a 5.71 Goals Against Average and an .823 save percentage. This year Wall is 5-6-1 with a 2.22 GAA and a .916 Sv%.
MULTI GOAL GAMES: Five different UMass Lowell players have posted multi-goal games this season. Ryan Lohin has done it three times.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 136-9-9 when leading after two-periods. They are also 31-20-9 when the score is tied after two periods. The River Hawks were 12-2-0 when leading after two periods during the 2017-18 season and were 22-1-2 when leading after two periods two years ago. They are 9-2-0 this season.
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 54-41-22, .556, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season. The team is 3-5-1 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.Â
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 149-23-6, .854 during the last seven-plus years. The River Hawks were 15-4-0, last season, and were 25-3-1 two years ago. When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 28-71-16, .313, since 2011-12.
WHEN TWO IS ENOUGH:  Three times this season UMass Lowell has won games when scoring fewer than three-goals. That is something the River Hawks had not done recently and rarely did a year ago. The hockey club defeated R I T, 2-1, on October 12th, beat Maine, 1-0, on November 3rd and defeated Massachusetts, 2-1, on January 4th. UMass Lowell is 3-5-1 this season when scoring two-goals or fewer, they were 2-14-0 a year ago.Â
GIVING UP THREE AND WINNING: The December 7th 5-3 win against Boston University was the first time this season that UMass Lowell has allowed three or more goals and won a hockey game. The team is 1-4-0 when allowing three or more goals in a game this season. The last time UMass Lowell won a game in which it allowed three goals was January 6, 2018 when the River Hawks beat UMass, 8-3.
A GOOD START: UMass Lowell has allowed just 11 first period goals 20 games into the season. That's an average of 0.55 goals per first period. Only one Hockey East team has better numbers. UMass has allowed 0.40 first period goals, a total of eight in 20 games. The River Hawks have outscored opponents 17-11 in the first period.
THE FINAL THIRD: Twenty games into the season and the River Hawks have outscored their opponents 22-goals to 18 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. Only five of eleven Hockey East teams have outscored their opponents in the third period this season.
THE 2019 SENIOR CLASS: The five-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 80-48-9, a .617 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 and Nick Master 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.
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 133 games in a River Hawk uniform. Connor Wilson (118) and Ryan Dmowski (115) joined the club earlier this season. Next on the list are Ryan Lohin (93), Mattias Göransson (92), Colin O'Neill (91) and Kenny Hausinger (88). A year ago UMass Lowell had six players on the roster with more than 100 games played in their collegiate careers.Â
69 GAMES: UMass Lowell forward Colin O'Neill has skated in 69 consecutive games. That is the longest active consecutive games streak on the River Hawk roster. O'Neill's streak began February 4, 2017, his freshman season, in an 8-2 win against UNH. Ryan Dmowski is second on the consecutive games list with 53 and Charlie Levesque is third with 48. Ryan Lohin, who had not missed a game in his collegiate career, saw his consecutive games streak end at 81 when he was sidelined with an injury earlier this season. Michael Kapla is the River Hawk record holder with 161 consecutive games played.Â
ATTENDANCE NUMBERS:  After leading Hockey East in average home attendance for the last three years, UMass Lowell is looking to do it again. UMass Lowell holds a slight edge over Massachusetts, 4,872 to 4,515. The River Hawks averaged 4,876 fans per game a year ago. During the last three years an average of 5,339 fans have filled the Tsongas Center nightly to watch UMass Lowell play.
