Friday, October 18th vs. Colgate (7:15pm)
HOMECOMING WEEKEND
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
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Game Notes (PDF)Â |
90 Seconds with Norm
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockeyÂ
Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: 980AMÂ WCAP
Talent:
Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)
Non-Commercial Radio: WUMLÂ 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Tim Casagrande (Analyst); Mia Farwell (Producer)
Saturday, October 19th vs. Colgate (6pm)
HOMECOMING WEEKEND | 1979 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
Watch |Â
Listen Live |
Live Stats |
Tickets
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockeyÂ
Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: 980AMÂ WCAP
Talent:
Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)
Non-Commercial Radio: WUMLÂ 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Tim Casagrande (Analyst); Mia Farwell (Producer)
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SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell is 3-1-0 after a weekend split against number one in the nation Minnesota Duluth. The River Hawks are ranked 18th in the USCHO and receiving votes in the USA Hockey. The club was picked for a sixth place finish in both the Hockey East Coaches' and the Media Pre-Season polls. The River Hawks finished the 2018-19 season with a 19-13-5/12-7-5 record. UMass Lowell returns 58.9 percent of its offense and four of its top seven scorers. Eight players have scored goals this season, Andre Lee leads the team with three. Kenny Hausinger and Lucas Condotta have two apiece. Hausinger leads the team with six points (2g, 4a). Goalie Tyler Wall has started all four games for the River Hawks this season with a 1.50 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. He appeared in 22 of the team's 37-games a year ago and posted a 2.09 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. He authored four of his seven career shutouts during the campaign.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS:  Colgate, coming off a 10-23-3 season, is 0-3-0 after dropping games to Ferris State and Boston College last week. Colgate was picked for a ninth place finish in the ECAC Pre-Season Media Poll. Colgate has scored just two goals in the team's first three games. Eight of the team's top ten scorers are back. Bobby McMann (8g, 15a, 23 pts) is the top returning scorer. Goalie Mitch Benson returns for his sophomore season between the pipes. He had a 2.76 goals against average and .911 save percentage a year ago.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. COLGATE: This is just the 21st meeting in a series that dates back to 1988. UMass Lowell leads the series 13-7-0. The River Hawks have won the last four meetings and sweep the series at the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, N.Y. a year ago, 3-0 and 4-1. The teams have faced one another in holiday tournaments on three occasions, the most recent was at the 2016 Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H. Two of those tournament meetings were at the Syracuse Invitational with each winning once and in each case in overtime. Colgate has not visited Lowell and the Tsongas Center since October, 2009. UMass Lowell won that meeting, 5-3, as Scott Campbell scored twice.
LAST YEAR: UMass Lowell swept a pair of games from Colgate on their first visit to the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, N.Y. The River Hawks got two goals from Connor Sodergren and 25 saves from Christoffer Hernberg in a 3-0 win in the opener. Ryan Lohin scored twice the second night and Tyler Wall made 23 saves in a 4-1 win.
LAST TIME AT THE TSONGAS: This is only the fourth time that the Tsongas Center has been host to a matchup between Colgate and UMass Lowell. It's Colgate's first visit to Lowell in ten years. The two teams last played at the Tsongas Center October23, 2009. The River Hawks scored three goals in a span of less than three-minutes midway through the third period to earn a come-from-behind 5-3 win. Scott Campbell had two first period goals for UMass Lowell. Nick Schaus had the game tying goal and Colin Wright had the game winner. Nevin Hamilton had 27 saves in the win.
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell and defending National Champion and number one ranked Minnesota Duluth split a pair of games at the AMSOIL Arena in Duluth. The River Hawks scored three second period goals and goalie Tyler Wall made 32 saves as UMass Lowell defeated Minnesota Duluth, 3-2 the first night. Lucas Condotta scored twice to lead the offense. Chris Schutz added a goal and an assist. The Bulldogs won the second night on a third period goal by Nick Swaney breaking a 1-1 tie. Andre Lee scored the River Hawk goal.
FACING THE CHAMPIONS: After splitting a pair of games last weekend UMass Lowell is 16-14-1 all-time when facing the defending National Champ. That includes a 10-7-0 record on the road. All but two of those opponents have been Hockey East schools. The exceptions are 6-4 win in Grand Rapids against North Dakota, the 1987 NCAA Champ, and last Saturday night's 3-2 win in Duluth.
FACING NUMBER ONE: Until UMass Lowell's 3-2 win against Minnesota Duluth, last Saturday night, the team had never beaten a team ranked number one in the USCHO Poll. Since the USCHO Poll began during the 1997-98 season the River Hawks had never beaten the number one team in the country. UMass Lowell is now 1-18-2 against the top ranked team in the Poll. The River Hawks have had some success against team placed number one in other polls. The last win against a number one team was a 4-1 win against Boston College, part of a sweep weekend, in February of 2005.
BACK IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: UMass Lowell is back in the polls. The River Hawks after "receiving votes" the last couple of week appeared at the number 18 slot this week in the USCHO Poll. The team closed out the 2018-19 season earning a spot in the USCHO poll in each of the final eleven weeks of the season and finished the year at number 19. After missing from the polls for 28 weeks UMass Lowell reappeared among the top-twenty on January 21, 2019. The River Hawks are no stranger to the polls, the team had been nationally ranked for 116 consecutive polls between January 7, 2013 and October 23, 2017.
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM: The River Hawks have more than held their own in non-conference games over the eight-plus years that Norm Bazin has been behind the bench. UMass Lowell is 86-37-6 (.690) in non-conference games since 2011-12. The team is 3-1-0 this year and was 6-4-0 a year ago. Over the past 10-plus years, Lowell has the best non-conference regular season record of any team in Hockey East at 67-26-8 (.703).
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VERSUS THE ECAC: UMass Lowell has played more non-conference games against ECAC schools than against any other conference in its Division I history and has had a great deal of success. The River Hawks are 105-76-12, .575, all-time against schools representing the ECAC and 94-61-10, .600, against schools currently in the ECAC.  UMass Lowell is 14-4-1 against the conference during the last four years.
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VERSUS THE NCHC: UMass Lowell has found some success in games against the teams in the NCHC. The River Hawks hold an 9-6-2 edge against team representing the NCHC, but are only 24-38-4 against teams that are currently members of the conference. Last year UMass Lowell was 1-2-0 against the NCHC, splitting with Miami but losing to Denver.
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AN ALL-INCLUSIVE SCHEDULE: The UMass Lowell 2019-20 schedule finds the River Hawks playing games against teams from each of the six Division I hockey conferences. In addition to the 24 Hockey East games, the team will play three games against teams representing the ECAC, two each against the NCHC, the WCHA and Atlantic Hockey and one against the Big Ten.
WEEKLY HONORS: UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall was named the Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the week. The netminder stopped 68 of 72 shots (.944 SV%) in the weekend split at #1 Minnesota Duluth. He kicked out 32 saves in Friday night's 3-2 win against the Bulldogs and made a season-high 36 stops in a 2-1 setback on Saturday. Across the two outings, Wall denied 28 third-period shots.
DOMINATING THE DOT: UMass Lowell was dominant in the faceoff circle a year ago and has started this season in similar fashion. The River Hawks have won 141 of 233, 60.5% of the puck drops. That figure leads Hockey East and is the third best in the country. Lucas Condotta (29 of 39, 74.4%) and Colin O'Neil (38/63, 60.3%) lead the way. A year ago UMass Lowell won 1,179 of 2,240 puck drops, a winning percentage of 52.6%, the best in Hockey East and 54.0% in conference play. Returners Charlie Levesque, Lucas Condotta and Connor Sodergren were all at .515 or better. Levesque led the team with a .568 percentage.
FIRST NOTCH: Four UMass Lowell freshmen scored their first collegiate goals during the season's first weekend. Matt Brown (1g, 1a), Zach Kaiser and Andre Lee all scored third-period goals on Saturday and freshman Carl Berglund, who had two-assists on Saturday, scored the game's first goal on Sunday.
AMONG THE LEADERS: It may be early but, Kenny Hausinger is among the nation's leading scorers. His six points places him second, just one point off the lead. He had a goal and two assists in season opener against Alabama Huntsville and has built upon that ever since. Hausinger is tied for the lead among Hockey East players and his four assists leads the conference.
AMONG THE LEADERS II: A couple of River Hawk freshman have gotten off to a good start on the scoring charts. Andre Lee, with three goals, tops Hockey East freshmen and is second in the national among freshmen goal scorers. Matt Brown with four points is first among Hockey East freshmen and third in the nation.
MULTI GOAL GAMES: Lucas Condotta became the first River Hawk to record a multi-goal game when he scored twice in the River Hawks 3-2 win at Minnesota-Duluth. It was also the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career.
RIVER HAWK STRONG AT EVEN STRENGTH: UMass Lowell has outscored their opponents by a significant margin when playing even strength hockey. The River Hawks have scored ten goals while allowing just two while the teams have been playing with five skaters apiece.
PROBLEMS IN THE POWER GRID: The UMass Lowell power play has yet to get untracked. The River Hawks are scoreless in their last 13 man advantage situations and are just 1 for 17 on the season.
PK OK: The UMass Lowell penalty killing unit has been sharp. The River Hawks have successfully killed 19 of 21 man down situations including the last seven in a row.
FIVE GOALS: When UMass Lowell scored five goals in the opener against Alabama Huntsville it was the most the River Hawks had scored in a season or home opener since beating Boston College, 5-2, on October 10, 2014. The last time they scored more than five goals in a season opener was when they defeated Niagara, 7-3, to open the 2001-02 season. UMass Lowell is 64-0-1, .992, when scoring five or more goals during the Norm Bazin era.
TOP 100: In the recently published Hockey News "Top 100 Players to watch in the NCAA in 2019-20" two River Hawks made the cut. Freshman forward Andre Lee came in at number 93 and Sophomore defenseman Seth Barton registered at number 98.
A WIN TONIGHT WOULD... ...give the River Hawks a 4-1-0 start and a 4-1-0 record in non-conference play. It would be the second time during the Norm Bazin Era that the team has won four of its first five games.
TONIGHT'S PROMOTION: The first 1,500 students attending tonight's game will receive "The CAGE" T-shirts courtesy of Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union. A brand new design will be revealed.
HALL OF FAME: Prior to the game, the UMass Lowell Athletics Hall of Fame will celebrate four new members. Jamie Gillis, Toni-Marie Monfort, Peter Olsta and Stacey Moragne will be honored during the first intermission, as well as all of the members of our Hall of Fame Blue Blazer Society.
HOMECOMING: This is Homecoming weekend. There are a wide variety of gatherings and activities across the campus and both inside and outside of the Tsongas Arena.
NEXT WEEKEND: The River Hawks begin Hockey East Conference play next weekend with a Friday night home game against Boston University and visit Providence on Saturday evening. Both teams hold an all-time series edge over the River Hawks. BU is 77-32-9 all-time and knocked UMass Lowell out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals a year ago. The River Hawks are 7-5-0 in the last twelve. Providence has won the last six games between the two and holds a 60-47-11 edge all-time. Those are the first two of eight straight conference games.
HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell has won both of its home games this season and is 92-43-15 (a .663 winning percentage) at the Tsongas Center since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench for the 2011-12 season. In 2018-19 the River Hawks were 8-8-3 on home ice. The last time the River Hawks had a losing record at home was 2010-11 when the home team went 4-12-0.
ON THE ROAD, AGAIN: UMass Lowell is 97-58-11, a .618 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the eight-plus years that Norm Bazin has led the program. That .618 winning percentage is the second best in the nation during that period. The River Hawks are 73-47-10, .600, as the road team and 24-11-1, .681, in games played at a neutral site. UMass Lowell was 11-5-2, a .667 winning percentage, when playing away from the Tsongas Center last season.
BACK-TO-BACK: UMass Lowell has sixteen "back-to-back" weekend series this season. This is the third. The team is 2-0-0 on the first night and 1-1-0 on the second. A year ago the River Hawks were 9-6-1 on the first night and 8-5-3 on the second. They had four weekend sweeps. The sweeps came against UConn, Colgate, Vermont and BC/UMass. The River Hawks were swept just once (Providence.)
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 56-44-26, .548, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season. The team is 1-1-0 this season and was 4-7-5 last year and 10-13-5 over the last two years in one-goal games.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 158-23-8, .857 during the last eight-plus years. The River Hawks were 13-3-2 last season and 53-10-3, .826 over the last three seasons. When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 29-76-18, .309, since 2011-12.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 146-9-9 when leading after two-periods. They are also 32-20-12 when the score is tied after two periods. The River Hawks were 16-2-0 when leading after two periods during the 2018-19 season and 50-5-2 during the last three seasons. The River Hawks were also 2-0-3, a year ago, when tied after two periods.
THE WORST LEAD IN HOCKEY?:Â Not when Lowell is involved. Since Norm Bazin became head coach, when Lowell has a 2-goal lead at any point in a game, they are 156-10-4, 75-4-3 at the Tsongas Center. Last season, they were 17-3-0, 7-1-0 at Tsongas. When Lowell trails by 2 goals at any point in a game, they are 5-66-6, 2-30-3 at Tsongas. Last year, they were 0-7-2, 0-6-2 at Tsongas.
53rd SEASON OF UMASS LOWELL HOCKEY: This is the 53rd season of hockey at UMass Lowell. The program began at Lowell Tech with the 1967-68 season. That first team went 7-7-1. After winning three Division II National Championships the program moved to Division I as an Independent for the 1983-84 season and joined Hockey East for its inaugural season of 1984-85. The River Hawks are 889-735-121, .544, and 629-613-114 record (.506) as a DI program.
OPENERS: UMass Lowell is now 28-20-5, all-time, in season openers and 3-1-1 in the last five.  The River Hawks are 31-18-4 in home openers but are just above the .500 mark when they open the season at home, 11-10-3. UMass Lowell is 16-14-5 in Hockey East openers and 14-17-4 in Hockey East home openers. The River Hawks have never before opened the season against Alabama Huntsville. The two did meet in the 2007 home opener.
ATTENDANCE NUMBERS:  After leading Hockey East in average home attendance for three years, UMass Lowell finished second in total attendance, 87,682, and third in average attendance, 4,615. During the last three years an average of 5,339 fans have filled the Tsongas Center nightly to watch UMass Lowell play.
COUNTDOWN TO 1.5 MILLION:  UMass Lowell and the Tsongas Center should reach an attendance milestone early in the 2019-20 season. The building is approaching 1.5 million fans to see River Hawk hockey since the building opened in the later stages of the 1997-98 season. The countdown is at 7,178. Since opening 1,492,822 people have attended a UMass Lowell hockey game at the Tsongas Center.
SATURDAY START TIME: This season UMass Lowell Saturday home games will start at 6:00 p.m. That is an hour earlier than in the past. The charge was made in response to fan polling and in hopes that the 6:00 p.m. start would be more fan, student and Family friendly.
GETTING AN EARLY START: When UMass Lowell and Alabama-Huntsville faced off last Saturday night, October 5th, it was the earliest calendar date on which the River Hawks have ever played a regular season game. Exhibition games have been played on dates as early as September 30th, but the earliest regular season game had been October 6, 2017 when UMass Lowell was beaten 4-3 by UNH.
The NHL and UML: Five former River Hawks were on National Hockey League Opening Night Rosters this week. Defensemen Christian Folin (Montreal), Ron Hainsey (Ottawa) and Chad Ruhwedel (Pittsburgh), goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg) and goaltender Carter Hutton (Buffalo) are the group of five. Folin, Hellebuyck and Ruhwedel played for Head Coach Norm Bazin.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: UMass Lowell forward Connor Sodergren saw his numbers double as he moved from his freshman to his sophomore season. After scoring four-goals and 10-points in 33-games as a freshman Sodergren scored five goals and 21 points during his sophomore season.
THE 2020 SENIOR CLASS: The three-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 66-44-8, a .593 winning percentage. The class ranks third in Hockey East in both wins and winning percentage. The class which includes forwards Kenny Hausinger and Colin O'Neill and goalie Tyler Wall has won one HEA regular season title, a tournament championship, earned home ice for the Hockey East playoffs three times and made one trip to the NCAA Tournament. four in-season tournaments and made two appearances in the NCAA tournament. The class ranks seventh in wins and in winning percentage, among UML teams. The 2016 senior class tops the list with 100 victories.
JUST THREE: The UMass Lowell senior class is one of the smallest in the country. The River Hawks are one of nine teams with just three seniors, no school has a smaller senior class.
THE LEADERSHIP: The UMass Lowell leadership includes six Alternate Captains, but no Captain. Seniors Kenny Hausinger, Colin O'Neill and Tyler Wall along with juniors Charlie Levesque, Connor Sodergren and Anthony Baxter all have an "A" on the front of their jerseys. Wall is the first goalie to wear either an "A" or a "C" on the uniform since Dwayne Roloson during the 1993-94 season.
THE CENTURY CLUB: Only two members of the UMass Lowell roster have played more than 100 games in their collegiate careers. Colin O'Neill (112) and Kenny Hausinger (109) joined the Century Club late last season. Tyler Wall (75), Charlie Levesque (74) and Connor Sodergren (74) are next on the list. A year ago UMass Lowell had seven players on the roster with more than 100 games played in their collegiate careers.
90 GAMES: UMass Lowell forward Colin O'Neill has skated in 90 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. Connor Sodergren is second on the consecutive games list with 55, Kenny Hausinger has appeared in 51 in a row. Michael Kapla is the River Hawk record holder with 161 consecutive games played.
FRESH FACES: There are nine new names on the UMass Lowell hockey roster. The 2019-20 freshman class includes six forwards, two defensemen and one goalie. The group represents four countries, three states and three Canadian provinces. Defenseman Marek Korencik has travelled the greatest distance. His home in Zilina, Slovakia is separated from the UMass Lowell campus by some 4,089 miles.
YOUTH MUST BE SERVED: With a nine-member freshman class, twenty-one of the 28 players on the UMass Lowell roster are underclassmen. Seventy-five percent of the roster has no more than one year of college hockey experience. There are nine are freshmen, twelve sophomores, four juniors and three seniors on the roster. The River Hawks, going into the season, average 27.5-games experience per player. Last year 19 of 30 players were freshmen or sophomores. It is the largest group of underclassmen since the 2003-04 season when 25 of 30 players on the roster were underclassmen. The team also had 21 underclassmen during the 2007-08 season.
UNDERCLASSMEN: The UMass Lowell underclass (9 freshmen and 12 sophomores), at 21, is one of the largest in the country. Only Quinnipiac with 22 has more. Merrimack also has 21.
GOOD BLOODLINES: Defenseman Nolan Sawchuk has an NHL Hall of Fame connection. His Great Great Uncle was goaltender Terry Sawchuk who played for five NHL teams during a 21-year career. The Hall of Fame goalie won three Stanley Cups with Detroit and one with Toronto.
GOOD BLOODLINES II: Goalie Logan Neaton's father Patrick played for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1993-94 season. Patrick Neaton played his college hockey at the University of Michigan.
STRIPES IN THE BLOOD: Sophomore forward Austin O'Rourke has an NHL connection of a different kind. His father Dan O'Rourke is a National Hockey League referee, who has worked three Stanley Cup Finals series (2011, 2012, 2016) and has worked over 1,000 career games in the NHL.
AFTER A LOSS: UMass Lowell did a terrific job avoiding any extended losing streak a year ago. Seven times the River Hawks followed a loss with a win or a tie, only on three occasions did the hockey club lose consecutive games and never dropped three in a row.
SIZE MATTERS: UMass Lowell is one of the tallest and heaviest teams in the country. The River Hawks measure at an average of six-feet, one-inch, the fourth tallest team in college hockey. The team tips the scales at an average 192.04-pounds, the sixth heaviest team in the nation. They are both the tallest and heaviest team in Hockey East.
SEEN IT ALL AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell Head Athletic Trainer Artie Poitras is the longest serving hockey athletic trainer with one team and the second longest serving in the country. He has worked more games than anyone else in any capacity. Poitras has been on the bench, in his role as athletic trainer, for 38 years since starting his UMass Lowell career in 1981. He has been witness to a National Championship, three Hockey East Tournament Titles and ten NCAA Tournament visits. The athletic trainer has worked 1,423 games including 1,356 Division I games. He has missed only one game. Poitras is working on a consecutive games streak that has now reached 947. He is the only trainer in College Hockey to work games at both Northern Arizona and Arizona State.
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