LOWELL, Mass. -- Freshmen Chase Blackmun (Hudson, Wis.) and Reid Stefanson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) each notched a career-high three points (1g,2a) to pace the No. 14 ranked UMass Lowell Hockey team to a 6-3 victory on Friday night against Merrimack in Hockey East play at the Tsongas Center in front of 4,749 fans.

The River Hawks up their record to 18-10-2 overall (12-6-2 HEA), while the Warriors drop to 7-22-2 overall and 4-16-1 in HEA play.

"We are certainly excited about getting the result we were looking for. I thought we played well in certain periods of the game and we had a little lul in the second period and dug ourselves a hole, and it certainly became a new hockey game," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin. "The guys dug deep and I thought the third period was a good period for us."

Stefanson scored his seventh of the year on the power play with 4:19 to go in the second period to break the tie, while Ryan Lohin (Chadds Ford, Pa.) and Nick Master (Broomall, Pa.) added third-period tallies to seal the victory for the River Hawks.

Merrimack scored three goals in the first 2:42 of the second period to even the game at 3-3 with goals from Sami Tavernier (PPG), Derek Petti and Patrick Kramer.

The River Hawks stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first period on a power play tally by Charlie Levesque (Russell, Ont.), along with goals from Lucas Condotta (Georgetown, Ont.) and Blackmun.

Junior goaltender Tyler Wall (Leamington, Ont.) stopped 16 shots in his 10th win of the season, while Merrimack's Craig Pantano took the loss in relief, playing the final 40 minutes and making 31 saves. Logan Halladay started the game, posting seven saves in the losing effort for the Warriors.

The River Hawks outshot Merrimack, 44-19 for the game, including a 22-7 edge in the second frame and a 12-4 advantage in the third stanza.

UMass Lowell went 2-for-4 on the power play for the night and won 35 of 55 face-offs (64%) as a team. Sophomore forward Connor Sodergren (Tewksbury, Mass.) won a team-high 13 of 16 face-offs (81%) in the win, while Levesque added eight face-off wins.

The River Hawks return to action for the series finale on Saturday, February 23rd at Merrimack. Game time from Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass. is 7 p.m.

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