Friday, March 15th vs. No. 5 seed Boston University (7:15pm)
HOCKEY EAST QUARTERFINALS (GAME 1)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
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Live Stats |
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Game Notes (PDF) |
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); Catherine Bogart (Rinkside)
Non-Commercial Radio: WUMLÂ 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Brianne Dillon, Tim Casagrande (Analyst)
Saturday, March 16th vs. No. 5 seed Boston University (7pm)
HOCKEY EAST QUARTERFINALS (GAME 2)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
Watch ($) |Â
Listen Live |
Live Stats |
Tickets
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockeyÂ
Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: 980AMÂ WCAP/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent:
Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Andy Merritt (Analyst); Catherine Bogart (Rinkside)
Non-Commercial Radio: WUMLÂ 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Brianne Dillon, Tim Casagrande (Analyst)
Sunday, March 17th vs. No. 5 seed Boston University (4pm)
HOCKEY EAST QUARTERFINALS (GAME 3: * if necessary)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
Watch ($) |Â
Listen Live |
Live Stats |
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockeyÂ
Commercial Radio:
River Hawk Network: 980AMÂ WCAP/UMass Lowell Game Day App
Talent:
Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst); Catherine Bogart (Rinkside)
Non-Commercial Radio: WUMLÂ 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play); Brianne Dillon, Tim Casagrande (Analyst)
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SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell is 18-11-5/12-7-5 after finishing off the regular season with a 2-2 tie at Vermont last Friday night. The club has won 11 of 18 road games, with two ties, and is 7-6-3 at home. UMass Lowell finished the regular season in fourth place two points behind second place Providence and Northeastern. The team is ranked 18th in the USCHO poll. The River Hawks were picked for a seventh place finish by Hockey East Coaches and was placed sixth in the Media Poll. Ryan Lohin leads the team in scoring with 26-points. Eighteen different players have scored goals, seventeen have scored more than once. Lohin and Ryan Dmowski with 12 and Kenny Hausinger with 11 top the list of goal scoring list. Ten players have 11 points or more, six have at least 18. Tyler Wall has started 20 of the team's 34-games and has a 2.06 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. Christoffer Hernberg is 6-2-2 in his last ten starts and has a 1.93 GAA and .931 Sv.% over his last eleven appearances. Both Wall and Hernberg have multiple shutouts to their credit.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS:  Boston University is 14-16-4 / 12-9-3 after dropping the regular season finale at Maine, 6-0. The loss stopped a five game unbeaten streak. The Terriers were picked to finish third in both the Coaches' Pre-Season and the Media Pre-Season Polls. They finished as the fifth seed, one point ahead of Maine and two points back of UMass Lowell. Sixteen different players have scored goals, twelve have more than one and four are in double digits. Freshman Joel Farabee leads the team with 13-goals and 31-points. Jake Oettinger has started 31 of the team's 34 games in nets. Oettinger has a 2.49 goals against average and a .927 sv%.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. BU: This is the 116th meeting and 14th in the post season between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1983. BU leads the series 74-31-9. These two teams have split the season series in each of the last three years. The Terriers have a 9-4-0 edge in Hockey East Tournament games, but UMass Lowell swept the Terriers out of the Hockey East tournament, two-games-to-none, in the 2016 Tournament. The two teams have met four times in the Hockey East Championship Game. BU has won three of the four, but UMass Lowell's first Hockey East Championship ended BU's 2013 season and coaching legend Jack Parker's career. The River Hawks hold a 13-8-1 edge since Norm Bazin became the head coach.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: UMass Lowell and Boston University split a pair of games during the regular season, each winning on the road. Five different players scored goals in UMass Lowell's 5-3 win at the Agganis Arena on December 7th. Seth Barton's first collegiate goal was the game winner. The next night BU scored three times, two from Bobo Carpenter, in the first 14:02 of the game and went on to a 5-2 win at the Tsongas Center.
RIVER HAWKS IN THE TOURNAMENT: This is UMass Lowell's 31st appearance in the Hockey East Tournament. They have won the Lamoriello Trophy in three of the last six years. The River Hawks are 45-48-3 in Tournament play. UMass Lowell has played in the tournament championship game in seven times including five in a row between 2013 and 2017.
IN THE QUARTERFINALS: UMass Lowell has won 17 of 29 Hockey East Tournament Quarterfinal series and have won the last five QF appearances in a row. UMass Lowell has been involved in a QF series that has gone to three games on nine occasions, winning the decisive third game six times.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ONE: Since the quarterfinal round became a best-of-three in 1996, UMass Lowell has won game one ten times. They have also lost game one ten times. When winning game one, UMass Lowell has advanced nine out of ten times. The only time the River Hawks failed to advance was in 2010 when Maine won the series on an overtime goal in game three. UMass Lowell has swept its opponent five times. The hockey club has never lost a home series after winning game one. When losing game one, the River Hawks have advanced only twice, both times against UNH. First in 2001 and then again in 2017.
SEEDED FOURTH: This is the sixth time that UMass Lowell has been the number four seed in the Hockey East Tournament. In each of the previous five appearances as the number four seed they have advanced to the semifinal round. The last time was 2016 when the River Hawks swept BU, 3-2 and 5-0. The team is 8-2-2 as the number four seed in the quarterfinals and 12-7-2 overall as the fourth seed.
THE NUMBER FOUR SEED: The number four seed has won the Hockey East Championship four times including last year when Boston University claimed the Tournament title as the number four seed. The fourth seed has made it to the Hockey East Championship game ten times in 34 years.
HOME FOR THE PLAYOFFS: UMass Lowell has enjoyed a home ice advantage in the Hockey East Post Season. This is the fourteenth time the River Hawks has hosted a Hockey East Tournament series; they have won 11 of the first 13 and five of the last seven. Their only home playoff series losses came in 2012, when they were beaten by Providence two-games-to-one, and last year when they dropped two overtime games to Merrimack. Five of the previous 13 series have gone the maximum three games. The River Hawks have a 19-7-2 record in home playoff games including a 13-7-0 record at the Tsongas Center. ULowell was 15-1-0 in the ECAC D2 Tournament and 8-2-0 in the NCAA D2 Tournament playing at home.Â
HOME FOR THE PLAYOFFS - PART II:  UMass Lowell, during the "Norm Bazin Era," has never played a road playoff game. All post season, Hockey East or NCAA Tournament games have been played at either the Tsongas Center or a neutral site.
The Tournament Norm: Since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench, UMass Lowell is 25-14-0 in the post season, including both the Hockey East and NCAA Tournament play. Bazin is 19-9-0 in the HEA Tournament and is 6-5-0 in the NCAA Tournament. The team is looking for its sixth trip to the Garden. The River Hawks won the Hockey East Tournament in 2013, 2014 and again in 2017. The River Hawks reached the NCAA Frozen Four in 2013.
TOURNAMENT SCORING: UMass Lowell senior Nick Master (1g, 4a) and junior Kenny Hausinger (2g, 3a) lead the club with five-points in post-season play. Junior Colin O'Neill tops the goal scoring ledger with three.Â
GOING WITH THE FLO:Â Hockey East has partnered with FloSports to provide live streaming of this year's tournament. Purchasing a FloHockey subscription ($29.99 per month) allows fans outside of New England to watch every game in the Hockey East tournament. Fans in New England will only have access to quarterfinal contests on FloHockey with the semifinals and finals televised live on NESNplus. FloHockey will also be streaming the Big Ten and WCHA tournaments in addition to select NCHC quarterfinals. To sign up visit FloHockey.tv.
A WIN TONIGHT WOULD... ...give UMass Lowell a one-game to none lead in the best-of-three series. It would also end a four-game winless streak during which the River Hawks have earned three ties.
NEXT WEEKEND:Â That is still to be determined.
IT HAPPENED LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell wrapped up the regular season with a 2-2 tie at Vermont. The River Hawks got goals from seniors Ryan Dmowski, who tied the game at one, and Nick Master whose goal knotted the score at two.
THE 2019 SENIOR CLASS: The five-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 87-51-13, a .619 winning percentage. The class ranks second in Hockey East in both wins and 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 in wins and in winning percentage, among UML teams.  The 2016 senior class tops the list with 100 victories.
THE CENTURY CLUB: Seven members of the UMass Lowell roster have played more than 100 games in their collegiate careers. Nick Master leads the group with 147 games in a River Hawk uniform. Connor Wilson (131), Ryan Dmowski (129), Ryan Lohin (107), Mattias Göransson (106), Colin O'Neill (105) and Kenny Hausinger (102) joined the club earlier this season. A year ago UMass Lowell had six players on the roster with more than 100 games played in their collegiate careers.Â
TAKING A STEP: Several River Hawk Players have surpassed last year's point totals.   Ryan Lohin, Connor Sodergren, Mattias Göransson and Charlie Levesque have all exceeded the numbers they put up a year ago. Lohin leads UMass Lowell is both goals and scoring with 12-goals and 26-points. A year ago he finished the season with nine-goals and 25-points. Sodergren has five-goals and 21-points compared to four and ten. Göransson has four-goals and 18-points after posting four-goals and thirteen last season. Levesque has 16-points and putting up a dozen a year ago.
PLUS/MINUS: Two River Hawks show double digit pluses when it comes to the plus/minus rating. Connor Sodergren is at a team leading +16. Freshman Chase Blackmun is second on the team at a +10. Twenty-two UMass Lowell players are at a plus or even on the season. Â
2019: The calendar year 2019 has been a good one for UMass Lowell. Since January 1, 2019 the River Hawks are 10-3-4, .706. That .706 winning percentage is the best in Hockey East and sixth in the country. The three losses are the fewest of any club in Hockey East and third in the nation. The 1.82 goals against average is also the best in Hockey East and third in the nation. The penalty killing unit, with an 87.7% success rate is fourth in Hockey East and 11th in the country.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: For the eighth week in a row UMass Lowell has earned a spot in the USCHO poll. The club is currently ranked 18th. Although missing from the polls for 28 weeks, UMass Lowell is no stranger to the polls, the team had been nationally ranked for 116 consecutive polls between January 7, 2013 and October 23, 2017.
BACK-TO-BACK: There have been fifteen "back-to-back" weekend this season. UMass Lowell is 9-5-1 on the first night and 7-5-3 on the second. They have four weekend sweeps on the board. The sweeps have come against UConn, Colgate, Vermont and BC/UMass. The River Hawks have been swept once this season (Providence.) 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.
FLYING SOLO: UMass Lowell played four stand-alone games this season. The team is 2-1-1 in the solo scenario. The River Hawks lost to Denver, 4-1, on December 29th, defeated Massachusetts, 2-1, and topped Northeastern 3-1. Last Friday the club wrapped up the regular season with a 2-2 tie at Vermont.
HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell is 89-41-15 (a .666 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 7-6-3 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 Dmowski leads the team with six-goals and 13-points in sixteen home games. Kenny Hausinger has six Tsongas Center goals. Ryan Lohin has 12-points at the Tsongas Center.
ON THE ROAD: UMass Lowell is 11-5-2, a .667 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center this season. The eleven wins are the third most in the country and that .667 road winning percentage is eighth best in the country. The River Hawks lead Hockey East in both categories.
ON THE ROAD, AGAIN: UMass Lowell is 96-57-11, a .619 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the nearly eight years that Norm Bazin has led the program. That .619 winning percentage is the second best in the nation during that period. The River Hawks are 72-46-10, .602, as the road team and 24-11-1, .681, in games played at a neutral site.
ON THE ROAD, AGAIN AND AGAIN: During this season UMass Lowell had an eight-game road winning streak. It was their longest road winning streak since taking a school Division I record nine in a row in 2013. The school record is 20 straight road wins set over two seasons beginning in January of 1981 and ending more than a year later.
ROAD WARRIORS: Several River Hawks appear to feel right at home when they are on the road. Ryan Lohin has scored 14 of his 26-points and seven of his 12-goals on the road.   Connor Sodergren has scored 13 of his 21-points in enemy rinks. Sam Knoblauch has scored seven (3g, 4a) of his eight points this season on the road. Charlie Levesque scored ten of his 16-points and Lucas Condotta has scored seven-points (3g, 4a) of his eight points in enemy buildings. Kenny Hausinger has seen 11 of his 19-points come on the road. Reid Stefanson has accumulated 11 of his 18-points away from the Tsongas Center.Â
THE REGULAR SEASON: UMass Lowell went 18-11-5 during the regular season. The win total is one more than a year ago, but four fewer than during the 2016-17 regular season. In five of the previous seven seasons the River Hawks won at least 21 games.
BONUS TIME - NO BONUS: Overtime has not been kind to UMass Lowell over the last two-plus seasons. The River Hawks are 1-9-8 in their last 18 overtime games (0-2-5 this season) dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season. The one win came on a Connor Wilson goal, Jan. 19, 2018, 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.
FLUXUATIONS IN THE POWER GRID: The UMass Lowell power play has been on on-again off-again proposition. After scoring power play goals in four straight games and eight of eleven, the River Hawks have scored power play goals (3) in just two of the team's last eight games. The PP Unit has a 16.5% success rate for the season.
PENALTY KILLING?: The UMass Lowell penalty killing unit has been playing some of its best hockey after a rough stretch. The PK unit has killed 39 of the last 44 shorthanded situations over a twelve-game period, an 88.6% success rate.
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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: UMass Lowell forward Connor Sodergren has four-goals and 21-points in 34-games. A year ago Sodergren did not get to 21. He finished the year with four goals and ten points. His fourth goal and tenth point came in his 32nd, the team's 35th, game. Defenseman Mattias Göransson has also surpassed last year's totals. Göransson has four goals and 18-points. A year ago he finished with four-goals and 13-points.
CLEAN SHEETS:  UMass Lowell goalies have combined for seven shutouts this season. Tyler Wall has four and Christoffer Hernberg has three. Only in 2001-02 did the River Hawks chalk up more shutouts as a team, eight. Cam McCormick had six, Jimi St. John had one and the two goalies combined for an eighth.
BACK-TO-BACK ZEROES:  UMass Lowell posted consecutive shutouts, February 8 and 9, for the first time since the 2013-14 season. The River Hawks, with Connor Hellebuyck in nets, shutout Notre Dame and New Hampshire, both 4-0, in the Hockey East Tournament semi-final and championship games.
DOMINATING THE DOT: UMass Lowell is dominating at the faceoff circle. The River Hawks have won 1,086 of 2,060 puck drops, a winning percentage of 52.7%, the best in Hockey East. Charlie Levesque, Lucas Condotta, Nick Master and Connor Sodergren are all at .517 or better. Levesque leads the team with a .574 percentage, third best in Hockey East.
GETTING IN THE WAY: UMass Lowell is third in Hockey East in blocked shots per game. The River Hawks have blocked 401 shots in 34-games this season, an average of 11.79 shots blocked per game. Defenseman Mattias Göransson leads the team and his seventh in Hockey East with 53 blocks. Seven players have 22 or more blocks.
STINGY D:  UMass Lowell held opponents to one goal or fewer in eleven of its last 17 games. That stretch includes four shutouts. The River Hawks have a 1.82-goals against average during the 17-game span. Those numbers are the best in Hockey East in the new year.
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 55-43-26, .548, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season. The team is 4-7-5 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.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 154-23-8, .854 during the last seven-plus years. The River Hawks are 13-3-2 this season and 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 29-74-18, .314, since 2011-12.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 142-9-9 when leading after two-periods. They are also 32-20-12 when the score is tied after two periods. The River Hawks were 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 15-2-0 this season.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Ryan Dmowski has eleven game winning goals in his career. That ranks him first in Hockey East and third in the nation among active players. Denver's Jarid Lukosevicius leads the country with 19, two others also have 11. His six game winning goals this season is second in the country.
Defense: Over the past nearly eight seasons, UMass Lowell has allowed just 2.25 goals per game and has a .920 save percentage. Those number are among the best in the country. Only two teams, (Quinnipiac 2.19 and Cornell 2.23), have a better goals against average and just one, (Denver .921) has a higher save percentage.
IN THE CLUTCH: Ryan Dmowski leads UMass Lowell with ten 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. Seven of Dmowski's ten clutch goals have given UMass Lowell the lead. Kenny Hausinger is second with six and Connor Wilson is third with five clutch goals.
ON TARGET: UMass Lowell has scored on 10.2% of its shots on goal during the nearly eight years that Norm Bazin has been behind the bench. Only four teams show greater accuracy during that seven-plus season period of time. St. Cloud tops the lists at 11.2%. Boston College and Northeastern are at 10.5% and 10.4% respectively. Minnesota is also at 10.3% (10.34%).
PUTTING THE O IN THE D: After a slow start the UMass Lowell defense corps has been a significant contributor to the River Hawk offense. After scoring just one-goal and adding ten-assists during the first eight games of the season the blueliners have contributed 13-goals and 55-points to the offense in the last 26 games. The 13-goals is the third most by a Hockey East defense since November 9. The UMass Lowell defense corps is fifth in Hockey East in both goals and points. A year ago the UMass Lowell defensemen were among the highest scoring in the nation with 26-goals and 89-points.
A GOOD START: UMass Lowell has allowed just 21 first period goals in 34 games this season. That's an average of 0.62 goals per first period. That ranks UMass Lowell 13th in the nation, only two Hockey East teams have better numbers. UMass has allowed 0.53 first period goals, a total of 18 in 34 games. Providence is at 0.58, allowing 21-goals in 36 games. The River Hawks have outscored opponents 29-21 in the first period. That goal differential, +8, is the third highest in Hockey East.
THE FINAL THIRD: The River Hawks have outscored their opponents 35-goals to 24 in the third period of play. The plus-11 is third best in Hockey East and is 11th in the country. Only one Hockey East team has given up fewer third period goals. That continues a trend seen a year ago. UML outscored opponents by 15-goals in the third period during the 2017-18 season. That was the eleventh highest goal differential in the country.
TEN IN A ROW: UMass Lowell put together a ten-game unbeaten streak, 9-0-1, from January 4th through February 9th. During that streak the team scored 3.33 goals per game and allowed just 1.44 goals per game. The streak was the fourth longest unbeaten streak in UMass Lowell's Division I history and the longest since the team went undefeated in eleven games (10-0-1) during the 2012-13 season. The River Hawks had a 12 game (11-0-1) stretch without a loss during the 1995-96 season and a 14 game (11-0-3) run during the 2004-2005 campaign.Â
AFTER A LOSS: UML has done a good job avoiding any extended losing streak. Seven times this season the River Hawks have followed a loss with a win or a tie, only on three occasions has the hockey club lost consecutive games and they have not dropped three in a row.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: The UMass Lowell freshmen class has been key to the River Hawk offense. The group, with 24-goals and 70-points, is second in scoring of the four classes. The class is third in Hockey East in goals and points. Reid Stefanson, with 18-points (7g, 11a), is the top scoring River Hawk freshmen.
BEFORE AND AFTER THE BREAK: UMass Lowell, during the Norm Bazin Era, has a better winning percentage after the winter break than before it. The River Hawks are 74-43-12, .620, before the break and 112-55-14, .658, after the break. BUT, the numbers can be misleading. In five of the previous seven years the team had a slightly better winning percentage during the first half of the season.
83 GAMES: UMass Lowell forward Colin O'Neill has skated in 83 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 67 and Charlie Levesque is third with 62. 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
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. Twelve of the thirteen have played, only goalie Eric Green is still waiting to see action. 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.
ATTENDANCE NUMBERS:  After leading Hockey East in average home attendance for the last three years, UMass Lowell is currently second. UMass Lowell trails Massachusetts, 4,964 to 5,050. During the last three years an average of 5,339 fans have filled the Tsongas Center nightly to watch UMass Lowell play.
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 37 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 1,416 games including 1,349 Division I games. He has missed only one game. Poitras is working on a consecutive games streak that has now reached 940. He is the only trainer in College Hockey to work games at both Northern Arizona and Arizona State.
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM: The River Hawks more than held their own in non-conference games 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 2011-12.
