Friday, January 17th vs. No. 5 Boston College (7:15pm)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
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Live Stats |
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Game Notes
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);Â Tim Casagrande (Analyst)
Saturday, January 18th vs. Merrimack (6pm)
MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
Watch (US/Intl $)Â |Â
Listen Live |
Live Stats |
Tickets
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockeyÂ
Commercial Radio: River Hawk Network: 980AMÂ WCAP
Talent:
Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Andy Merritt (Analyst)
Non-Commercial Radio: WUMLÂ 91.5 FM
Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play);Â Tim Casagrande (Analyst)
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell is 12-5-4 / 6-2-3 after splitting a pair of games at R I T. The River Hawks are currently in a three-way tie for second place one point behind first place Providence and one-point ahead of fifth place Boston College. The team is ranked 13th in both the USA Hockey Magazine Poll and the USCHO Poll. The River Hawks were picked for a sixth place finish in both the Hockey East Coaches' and the Media Pre-Season polls. Sixteen players have scored goals this season, five have five or more. Carl Berglund leads the team with nine. Kenny Hausinger, Connor Sodergren and Andre Lee have six. Matt Brown has five. Brown leads the team with 19-points, Berglund has 18. The top three point scorers, Brown, Berglund and Lee, are freshmen. Goalie Tyler Wall has started nineteen of the team's twenty-one games with a 1.81 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. Wall has authored two of his nine career shutouts this season.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Boston College is 13-5-0 / 7-3-0 after splitting a pair of games with Massachusetts. Each team won on the road. The Eagles are 5-2-0 at home and 8-3-0 on the road. They are in a fifth place just two-points behind first place Providence. The team was picked to finish first in the Coaches' Pre-Season Poll. The Media Poll pegged BC for third place. Boston College did return its top three 2018-19 scorers. The roster shows a dozen players who have been picked in the NHL draft. Eighteen different players have scored goals, six have five or more. Senior David Cotton and junior Logan Hutsko lead the team with ten apiece. Cotton tops the points list with 25. Freshman goalie Spencer Knight has started 17 of the Eagles 18 games this season. He's got a 1.83 goals against average and a .937 save percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. BC: This is the 117th meeting between the two teams in a series that dates back to 1978. Boston College leads the all-time series 65-41-10. UMass Lowell took five out of six points a year ago and holds a 6-3-1 edge in the last ten. They have met nine times in the Hockey East Tournament with BC winning five. UMass Lowell defeated Boston College in the 2017 Tournament Championship Game and grabbed the title with a 4-3 win. They have met once in the NCAA Tournament with BC winning, 4-3.Â
PLAYOFFS VERSUS BC: UMass Lowell and Boston College have met seven times in the Hockey East Tournament for a total of nine games. Only one meeting was in the Final. That was in 2017 and the River Hawks finished on top, 4-3, to earn their third Hockey East Tournament Championship in five years. UMass Lowell has advanced only once in the preliminary rounds. That was in 1988 when UMass Lowell won a two-game total goals series, 8-5. Â
LAST YEAR VERSUS BC: UMass Lowell took five out of six points from Boston College a year ago. The River Hawks won at BC, 3-1, getting two-goals from Reid Stefanson and the game winner from Ryan Dmowski. Dmowski starred the following night with two-goals including the game tying goal with 2:01 remaining on the clock in a 4-4- final. Two weeks later UMass Lowell topped the Eagles, 3-0, with three second period goals. Dmowski had the game winner in that one as well. Tyler Wall was in nets for the two wins.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: UMass Lowell and Boston College have played each other in nine different buildings, matching the greatest number of venues for the River Hawks against any Hockey East opponent. UMass Lowell and BC have faced off at Tully Forum (Billerica, Mass.), McHugh Forum (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), Providence Civic Center (Providence, R.I.) Matthews Arena (Boston, Mass.), Walter Brown Arena (Boston, Mass.), Conte Forum (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) Tsongas Arena/Center (Lowell, Mass.), FleetCenter/TD Garden (Boston, Mass.) and the DCU Center (Worcester, Mass.) UMass Lowell has also played Maine and New Hampshire in nine different buildings. UMass Lowell has played Clarkson in ten different buildings.
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell split a pair of games at R I T last weekend. The River Hawks won the series opener, 6-4, as both Lucas Condotta and Carl Berglund had two-goal games. The River Hawks took command of what had been a back and forth affair with three third period goals. R I T prevailed on Saturday night, 3-2. Berglund and Andre Lee had goals for UMass Lowell.
A STEFANSON SIGHTING: After missing the first 19 games of the season Reid Stefanson returned to the ice last weekend at RIT. Stefanson, who was the team's top freshman scorer a year ago, did pick up his first point of the season, an assist in the River Hawks 6-4 Friday night win. Stefanson scored eight-goals and 20-points a year ago.
WALL NOMINATED FOR HOBEY BAKER AWARD:  Goaltender Tyler Wall has been nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The announcement was made on Thursday afternoon. Online fan voting has now commenced for the most prestigious individual award in college hockey and will continue through the night of March 10th. Wall has posted a 12-3-4 record in 19 starts in his senior season with a 1.81 GAA, a .941 save percentage and two shutouts. His .941 save percentage is ranks tied for second among Div. I goaltenders and his GAA ranks sixth in the nation. He has allowed two goals or fewer in 14 of 19 starts this season and has registered 30+ saves in 11 contests so far this season. Goalie Dwayne Roloson is the only UMass Lowell player to be named a finalist for the award. That was in 1994.
NON-CONFERENCE: Last weekend's two games at R I T put a wrap on the River Hawks non-conference schedule for the 2019-20 regular season. UMass Lowell finished the run at 6-3-1 in ten non-conference games. The .650 non-conference winning percentage is 14th best in the country.
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 89-39-7 (.685) in non-conference games since 2011-12. The team is 6-3-1 this year and was 6-4-0 a year ago.
HOME: It's been a while since the River Hawks played on the familiar ice of the Tsongas Center. It's been 41-days. UMass Lowell last played at home on December 7th, a 4-1 loss to Providence. The River Hawks are 5-3-3 at the Tsongas Center this year.
HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell has won five of eleven with three ties at the Tsongas Center this season and is 96-46-18 (a .656 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: UMass Lowell is 7-2-1, .750, playing away from the Tsongas Center this season. That .750 winning percentage is the fifth best in the country.
ON THE ROAD, AGAIN: UMass Lowell is 103-59-12, a .626 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the eight-plus years that Norm Bazin has led the program. That .626 winning percentage is the best in the nation during that period. The River Hawks are 79-48-11, .612, as the road team and 24-11-1, .681, in games played at a neutral site.
GET ON THE BUS: For UMass Lowell the ride to the Gene Polisseni Center and games with R I T was their longest bus ride of the season. It's a 397-mile trip from the Tsongas Center to the Polisseni Center, in Rochester, N.Y. It is not the greatest distance that UMass Lowell has traveled this season to play hockey. That longest trip was for a pair of games at the Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minnesota. A 1,057-mile journey by air.
CAREER WIN 52:  Goalie Tyler Wall picked up his 52nd career win January 10 at RIT. That moved Wall to the top of the list as the winningest goalie in UMass Lowell's Division I history. Dwayne Roloson had held the record, at 51, since wrapping up his collegiate career in 1994. Marty Fillion who's playing days ended in 1998 in now third with 50 career wins.
A WIN TONIGHT... ...could move UMass Lowell into first place in Hockey East. If Tyler Wall is in nets the win would be his 53rd. He is the River Hawks Division I career leader.
AFTER A LOSS: UMass Lowell did a terrific job avoiding any extended losing streak a year ago and appear to be doing the same this year. Seven times, a year ago, 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. They have lost consecutive games only once this season.
TWENTY-ONE GAMES IN:  Twenty-one games into the season and UMass Lowell is several steps ahead of where it was a year ago. The River Hawks are 12-5-4 after being 12-8-1 a year ago. The team is 6-2-3 in league play compared with 6-3-1 a year ago.
BACK-TO-BACK: UMass Lowell has sixteen "back-to-back" weekend series this season. Ten have been played, this is the eleventh. The team is 6-1-3 on the first night and 5-4-1 on the second. They have swept both Alabama Huntsville and Vermont and had a sweep weekend by beating both Rensselaer and Penn State on consecutive nights. 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.)
AT THE BREAK: The River Hawks reached the winter break with double digit wins for the ninth time in 36 years of Division I hockey. UMass Lowell is 10-4-4. The most wins the team has ever had at the break is 12. That was done twice, 1986-87 and 2001-02.
94 AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell's visit last weekend to the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, a building that opened for business during the 2014-15 season, pushed the number of buildings in which UMass Lowell has played hockey to at least 94. Visits last season to Bentley and Colgate pushed the number to 92 and 93. The long list includes stops stretching from Alaska to Belfast, Northern Ireland and from Arizona to Maine.
28 DAYS: It was 28 days between games when UMass Lowell played Merrimack last Saturday night. That break, December 7 to January 4, is the longest in the school's Division I history. It should be noted that UMass Lowell did play an exhibition game, a 3-1 win, on December 29th against the CCHL All-Stars. The River Hawks did have a 27-day break during the 2010-11 season.Â
FLYING SOLO: The January 4th game at Merrimack, a 3-1 win, was the first time this year that UMass Lowell played a stand-alone game. The only other stand-alone game on the River Hawk schedule is the season finale against UConn on March 6. A year ago UMass Lowell was 2-2-1 in five stand-alone games.
DEFENSE: Over the past eight-plus seasons, UMass Lowell has allowed just 2.24 goals per game and has a .921 save percentage. Those number are among the best in the country. Only three teams, (Cornell 2.18, Quinnipiac 2.21 and Minnesota State 2.23), have a better goals against average and just one, (Denver .922) has a higher save percentage.
ON TARGET: UMass Lowell has scored on 10.2% of its shots on goal during the eight-plus years that Norm Bazin has been behind the bench. Only four teams show greater accuracy during that period of time. St. Cloud tops the lists at 11.2%. Boston College is at 10.6% and Northeastern is at 10.5%. Minnesota is at 10.3%.
ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT: UMass Lowell has played fourteen games decided by one-goal or less. Seven of those came consecutively and is the most one-goal games in a row the River Hawks have ever played in their 53 years of hockey. The team was 3-2-2 in that stretch and is 6-4-4 in one-goal games this season.
EXTRA TIME:  Seven of the River Hawks 21 games have gone into overtime. That's more than three quarters of the way to equaling the school record. The most overtime games that the River Hawks have played in a year is nine. That's happened three times. The most recent was during the 2015-16 season when the club went 3-1-5 in overtime. UMass Lowell is 2-1-4 in overtime this season.
OT AGAIN:  UMass Lowell has played seven overtime games this season, only four teams have played overtime more often. St. Lawrence has played in nine overtime games. New Hampshire, Providence and Princeton have played in eight.
FIT TO BE TIED:  The November 15th 3-3 tie was the River Hawks fourth tie of the season. That is fourth in the nation. UMass Lowell is one of ten teams with four ties on their record. Only Boston University, Providence and Holy Cross have five.
A RED LIGHT AT THE END OF THE OT TUNNEL:  The long wait is over. UMass Lowell finally won an overtime game when it defeated Providence 3-2, October 26, with a goal from Carl Berglund at the 4:20 mark of overtime. The win ended a streak of 13 overtime games (0-6-7) without a win. It had been 645-days since the River Hawks defeated Vermont 3-2 in overtime, on a Connor Wilson goal, January 19, 2018. The hockey club had been held off the score sheet for some 78-minutes and 22-seconds of overtime hockey.
BONUS TIME - NO BONUS: Overtime has not been kind to UMass Lowell over the last three seasons, but that may very well be changing. The River Hawks are 3-10-12 in their last 25 overtime games (0-2-5 last season) dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season. The three wins have come against Vermont in January, 2018, Providence October 26 and Penn State on November 30. The Providence win ended a 13 game (0-6-7) overtime winless stretch. Their longest winless OT streak is 18 games running from January 21, 2006 through January 11, 2008. UMass Lowell is 2-0-4 in its last six overtime games. The two wins have come in the last four overtime games.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Things have changed for River Hawk defenseman Chase Blackmun. A year ago Blackmun had just one-goal and two-points through 21 games. This time around he's got three-goals and eleven-points.   Two of his goals have been game winners.
JUST TWO: With a record of 6-2-3 in Hockey East play, UMass Lowell has the fewest losses in league play. The River Hawks are the only team with just two losses.  Boston College and Boston University are the only teams with just three losses.
NEXT WEEKEND: The River Hawks face the team that ended their season a year ago. UMass Lowell and Boston University will engage in a home and home series. Friday the two will square off at the Agganis Arena in Boston and Saturday the scene moves to the Tsongas Center. The teams have split the season series the last three years, But BU knocked the River Hawks out of the Hockey East Tournament a year ago two-games-to-one.
BACK IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT:  UMass Lowell is receiving recognition in the polls for the 11th straight week. The team is slotted at number 13 in the USA Hockey Magazine poll and in the USCHO Poll. It is the 11th week in a row and the 12th time this season that UMass Lowell has appeared in at least one of the two polls. 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. The River Hawks are no stranger to the polls, the team had been nationally ranked for 116 consecutive polls between Jan. 7, 2013 and Oct. 23, 2017.
THE NEW YEAR'S PAIRWISE:  UMass Lowell was ranked 12th in the Pairwise as the calendar flipped from 2019 to 2020. During the previous eight season with Norm Bazin at the helm UMass Lowell has been as high as number five in 2017 and as low as number 30 a year ago. In five of the previous eight years the River Hawks earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, three times they did not. During the 2012-13 season UMass Lowell made it to the Frozen Four after sitting at number 21 at mid-year. They were number 12 in 2014-15, but missed the post season.
PENALTY SHOT: Kenny Hausinger's penalty shot goal December 6 against Providence was the first successful penalty shot by a River Hawk since Jake Kamrass scored against Nebraska Omaha October 29, 2016. Mattias Göransson was stopped on a penalty shot attempt against Vermont January 19, 2019.
TIEBREAKER: The December 6th UMass Lowell win in Providence gave the River Hawks the upper hand in the season series and the tiebreaker should the two teams finish the season tied in the Hockey East standings. UMass Lowell won the three-game season series two-games-to-one.
DOWN BUT NOT OUT: The December 6th come-from-behind, 3-2, win at Providence was the first time UMass Lowell has won a game in which it trailed by two-goals since defeating Vermont, 3-2, in overtime on January 19, 2018. The River Hawks are 1-1-1 in games in which they have trailed by two goals this season. It was also the first time this season that UMass Lowell won a game when trailing entering the third period.Â
A CLASS ABOVE: The UMass Lowell rookie class is the highest scoring freshmen class in the country. River Hawk freshmen, in 21 games, have scored 25-goals and 39-assists for 64-points. Providence and Boston University have gotten 63-points from their freshmen classes. Matt Brown with five-goals and 19-points is second in scoring among first year player in the country. Carl Berglund is fifth among rookie scorers with nine-goals and 18-points. Berglund in third in goals with nine.
A CHILD SHALL LEAD:  Freshman Matt Brown leads UMass Lowell in scoring with 19-points. He is the nation's number-two point producing rookie and tied for the top spot in Hockey East. UMass Lowell is the only team in the country whose top three scorers are freshmen. Brown has 19-points, Berglund 18 and Andre Lee has 15-points.
107 GAMES:  UMass Lowell forward Colin O'Neill has skated in 107 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. Sophomore Defenseman Chase Blackmun is second on the consecutive games list with 49. Michael Kapla is the River Hawk record holder with 161 consecutive games played.
THE CENTURY CLUB: Only two members of the UMass Lowell roster have played more than 100 games in their collegiate careers. Colin O'Neill (129) and Kenny Hausinger (123) joined the Century Club late last season. Tyler Wall (91), Charlie Levesque (91), Connor Sodergren (88) and Anthony Baxter (87) are next on the list.Â
THE 2020 SENIOR CLASS: The three-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 75-48-12, a .600 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. The class ranks sixth 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. They are one of nine teams with just three seniors, no school has fewer. Boston College's roster shows 11 seniors.
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.
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 61-47-30, .551, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season. The team is 6-4-4 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 167-25-10, .852 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 32-80-20, .318, since 2011-12.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 153-9-10 when leading after two-periods. They are also 33-21-14 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?: 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 161-10-4, 75-4-3 at the Tsongas Center. The club is 8-0-0, this season, with a two-goal lead. 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 6-66-7, 2-30-4 at Tsongas. Last year, they were 0-7-2, 0-6-2 at Tsongas.
WHEN THE GAME IS ON THE LINE:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall has been at his best when the game is on the line. He is third in the country in saves in the third period and overtime. Wall has stopped 217 of 231 shots (.939) in the final 25 minutes of hockey.
PROTECTING THE NET: UMass Lowell is one of the top defensive team in Hockey East. The River Hawks have a 2.05 goals against average. That's seventh in the country and first in Hockey East. UMass Lowell has allowed no more than two-goals in 14 of its 19 games.
DOMINATING THE DOT: UMass Lowell has been dominant in the faceoff circle this year and the year before. The River Hawks have won 687 of 1,285, 53.5% of the puck drops. That figure leads Hockey East and is the seventh best in the country. Charlie Levesque (157/257, 61.1%), Lucas Condotta (174 of 299, 58.2%), Sam Knoblauch (32/55, 58.2%), Kenny Hausinger (31/57, 54.4%), Brian Chambers (25/47, 53.2%) and Colin O'Neil (60/120, 50.0%) 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. Levesque led the team with a .568 percentage.
FLUXUATIONS IN THE POWER GRID: The UMass Lowell power play is beginning to put it together. The River Hawks have scored a power play goal (13-50, 26.0%) in twelve of its last fourteen games. That's 11th best in the country over that twelve game stretch. The team is just 15 for 78, 19.2%, on the season.
PK OK?: The UMass Lowell penalty killing unit may have survived a bit of a bump in the road. After allowing four goals in 14 shorthanded situations over a three-game stretch shut down Merrimack and RIT in a total of thirteen opportunities over a three game stretch. On the season UMass Lowell has successfully killed 70 of 81 man down situations. With an 86.4% success rate the PK Unit is third in Hockey East and 11th in the nation. They have killed off 36 of 41 (87.8%) at home which ranks the River Hawks 15th in the country.
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL: When UMass Lowell beat Rensselaer 4-0, November 29th, it was the ninth shutout of Tyler Wall's career. He is fourth on the school's career shutout list moving ahead of Cam McCormick and Christoffer Hernberg who had eight. The all-time leader is Connor Hellebuyck who blanked opponents 12 times. Carter Hutton and Kevin Boyle are second with ten.
THE GREAT WALL:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the nation's leaders in goals against average and save percentage. Wall has a 1.81 GAA. That's number five in the country and his .941 save percentage ranks second. He leads Hockey East in both categories.
A GOOD START: UMass Lowell allowed just twelve first period goals in 21 games this season. That's just 0.57 goals per first period and that's ranks the River Hawks 14th best in the country and number four among Hockey East teams. On the other side of the equation UMass Lowell has scored just twelve first period goals and that ranks the team 47th in the country. The team is 5-0-0 when leading after one period.
THE FIRST 5:  UMass Lowell has scored a goal in the first five minutes of play in six of their first nineteen games this season. That's tenth best in the country. They did it in victories against Alabama Huntsville twice, Minnesota Duluth, Vermont and Rensselaer but lost after taking a 1-0 lead at the 4:40 mark of the first period against Colgate. Nineteen of the River Hawks 58 goals this season have come in the first five-minutes of a period. That number, nineteen, is fifth in the nation.
THE FINAL THIRD: The River Hawks outscored their opponents 37-goals to 26 in the third period of play a year ago. The 0.30 per game margin was third best in Hockey East and is 11th in the country. No Hockey East team gave up fewer third period goals. UMass Lowell has outscored its opponents, 20-17, in the third period this season.
FIRST NOTCH: Four UMass Lowell freshmen scored their first collegiate goals during the season's first weekend and a fifth added his name to the tally sheet last weekend. Matt Brown, Zach Kaiser and Andre Lee all scored third-period goals on Saturday, October 5, and freshman Carl Berglund, who had two-assists on Saturday, scored the game's first goal on Sunday, October 6. Brian Chambers picked up his first collegiate goal with an empty net marker against Vermont November 2.
MULTI GOAL GAMES: Four River Hawks have recorded a total of five multi-goal games this season. Lucas Condotta was the first when he scored twice in the River Hawks 3-2 win at Minnesota-Duluth, October 12. It was also the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career. He added another January 10th at RIT. Chris Schutz added his name to the list with a pair of goals November 2nd at Vermont in a 5-3 win.  Connor Sodergren joined the group with two-goals against Rensselaer on November 29th. Freshman Carl Berglund had a two-goal game last Friday night at RIT.
IN THE CLUTCH: River Hawk freshman Carl Berglund has stepped up in the clutch. A "clutch goal" is defined as a goal that either ties the score or gives the team the lead in a hockey game. Berglund leads the team with six clutch goals, four have given the team the lead, two have tied the score. Matt Brown has four clutch goals and Zach Kaiser has three. Berglund also leads the team with three game winning goals. Andre Lee and Chase Blackmun have two.
Vs. BIG TIME FOOTBALL SCHOOLS: UMass Lowell is 57-24-7 against schools with big time football programs (FBS members) since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench. That includes an 9-3-2 record against Notre Dame, 4-1-0 record against Penn State and 3-1-0 against Arizona State and an 18-2-1 mark against Massachusetts. The River Hawks are also 10-9-2 against Boston College and 7-6-2 against UConn. They also have winning records against Michigan State, Wisconsin and Miami.
FACING THE BEST: UMass Lowell has responded to the challenge winning three out of four games against top-ten teams in the USCHO and USA Hockey Magazine polls. All but one of those games have been on the road. The River Hawks split a two-game series at number one Minnesota Duluth and were winners at number seven ranked Providence. UMass Lowell also defeated number seven Penn State. They also split a pair of games with then ranked 15th Providence. The River Hawks are 4-2-0 against Nationally ranked teams.
FACING THE CHAMPIONS: After splitting a pair of games, October 11 and 12, 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 a 6-4 win in Grand Forks against North Dakota, the 1987 NCAA Champ, and the 3-2 win in Duluth in October.
FACING NUMBER ONE: Until UMass Lowell's 3-2 win against Minnesota Duluth, October 11, the team had never beaten a team ranked number one in the USCHO Poll. The USCHO Poll dates back to the 1997-98 season. 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.Â
TIME IS ON OUR SIDE, YES IT IS: UMass Lowell has played nineteen hockey games and has only trailed for 244:41 (19.0%) of a total of 1,287-minutes and 12-seconds of hockey. The River Hawks have skated with the lead for 503:07 or 39.1% of the time. The two teams have been tied for 540:45 or 42.0% of the time.
GROUNDHOG DAY: The October 26th 3-2 overtime win in Providence was the fourth consecutive game that required more than 60-minutes to complete. It is the first time in program history that UMass Lowell has played four consecutive overtime games. They had played three in a row on three occasions, but not in the last nine years. The string of extra time hockey games includes a 4-3 loss and a scoreless tie against Colgate, a 3-3 final against BU and the 3-2 win against the Friars. The River Hawks have never played five consecutive OT games.
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.
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.
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 1,440 games including 1,373 Division I games. He has missed only one game. Poitras is working on a consecutive games streak that has now reached 964. He is the only trainer in College Hockey to work games at both Northern Arizona and Arizona State.
VERSUS ATLANTIC HOCKEY:  UMass Lowell has had a good deal of success against teams in the Atlantic Hockey Association and its evolutionary predecessor, the MAAC. The River Hawks hold a 23-6-3, .766, edge all-time against teams representing the AHA. They are 78-26-5, .739, against teams currently in the league.
IT HAD BEEN A WHILE: When UMass Lowell forward Charlie Levesque scored December 6th against Providence it ended a 21-game scoring drought. Levesque's last goal had come on February 23, 2019 in a 3-3 tie against Merrimack. During the 21-game stretch that followed Levesque did pick up nine assists.
IT HAD BEEN A WHILE-Part II: UMass Lowell defenseman Anthony Baxter ended a 21-game scoring drought with a goal against Maine November 9th. It was Baxter's first goal of the season and gave UMass Lowell a 2-1 lead en route to an eventual 3-2 win. It was just Baxter's third career goal. All three have come in River Hawk wins. He scored goals in wins against BU and UMass during the 2018-19 season. He added a fourth career goal four games later in a win against Penn State.
IT HAD BEEN A WHILE - Part III: UMass Lowell defenseman Jon McDonald ended a 24-game scoring drought with a power play goal against UConn November 16th. The goal cut UConn's lead down to a single goal, but the River Hawks got no closer in a 2-1 loss. The goal was the third of McDonald's collegiate career.
ATTENDANCE NUMBERS: UMass Lowell is fourth in average attendance among Hockey East schools. The River Hawks are averaging 3,936 fans per game after ten home games. Boston College leads the conference drawing 5,987 after seven home games, New Hampshire is second with an average of 4,535 after nine home games and Massachusetts is third, eleven home games into the season, averaging 4,339. 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 2018-19 season.
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.
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