Friday, January 10th at RIT (7pm)
(Polisseni Center; Rochester, N.Y.)
Watch (US/Intl $) | Listen Live | Live Stats | Tickets | 90 Seconds With Norm | Game Notes
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockey 

Commercial Radio: River Hawk Network: 980AM WCAP
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

Saturday, January 11th at RIT (5pm)
(Polisseni Center; Rochester, N.Y.)
Watch (US/Intl $) | Listen Live | Live Stats | Tickets
Follow on Twitter: @RiverHawkNation @RiverHawkHockey 

Commercial Radio: River Hawk Network: 980AM WCAP
Talent: Bob Ellis (Play by Play); Jim Connelly (Analyst)

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell is 11-4-4 / 6-2-3 after coming out of the winter break with a 3-1 win at Merrimack on January 4.  The win moved the River Hawks into a first place tie with Northeastern atop the Hockey East standings.  The league leaders are just one-point ahead of third place Providence.  The team is ranked 11th in the USA Hockey Magazine Poll and 13th in 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, Carl Berglund, Kenny Hausinger and Connor Sodergren lead the team with six, Matt Brown and Andre Lee have five. Zach Kaiser has four.  Brown leads the team with 17-points.  The top three point scorers, Brown, Berglund and Lee, are freshmen.  Goalie Tyler Wall has started eighteen of the team's nineteen games with a 1.69 goals against average and a .945 save percentage.  Wall has authored two of his nine career shutouts this season.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS:  R I T is 10-7-3-0 / 7-6-3-0-1 after earning a tie (shootout win) in two games with Canisius last weekend in a home-and-home series.  The Tigers are 4-2-3-0 at home and 5-4-0-0 on the road.  They are in a fourth place tie in the ten-team Atlantic Hockey Conference.  They are eight-points behind first place Sacred Heart. The team was picked to finish fifth in the Coaches' Pre-Season Poll.  R I T did return three of its top five 2018-19 scorers.  Sixteen different players have scored goals, four have six or more.  Sophomore Will Calverley leads the team with nine-goals and 16-points.  Goalie Logan Drackett has started all twenty-games for the Tigers this season.  He's got a 2.33 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. R I T:  The series between the two schools goes back to the very early days of UMass Lowell hockey, but the two teams have only met nine times.  UMass Lowell won that first meeting in 1969 and owns a 6-2-1 series lead.  The two teams split a pair of games at the Tsongas Center last season.  Prior to that the two teams had not met since the Mariucci Tournament in January of 2015.  UMass Lowell won that game, 7-3, and went on to win the tournament.  R I T's first victory in the series came in the NCAA Div. II National Semifinal; a 4-1 win at the Tully Forum in 1983.  
 
LAST YEAR VS. R I T:  UMass Lowell and R I T split a pair of games to open the 2018-19 season at the Tsongas Center.  The River Hawks won the opener, 2-1, on third period goals by Connor Wilson and Ryan Dmowski.  Tyler Wall earned the win with 25-saves.  The Tigers won the following night, 5-4, in overtime.  After a four-goal Tiger second period, the River Hawks got goals from Kenny Hausinger and Reid Stefanson to force overtime.  Alden Dupuis potted the game winner just 46-seconds into the extra period.
 
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 22-5-3, .783, edge all-time against teams representing the AHA.  They are 77-25-5, .743, against teams currently in the league.
 
NON-CONFERENCE: This weekend's two games between UMass Lowell and R I T will be the River Hawks final non-conference games of the regular season.  UMass Lowell is 5-2-1 in eight non-conference games during this 2019-20 season.  The .688 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 88-38-7 (.688) in non-conference games since 2011-12.  The team is 5-2-1 this year and was 6-4-0 a year ago.
 
ON THE ROAD: UMass Lowell is 6-1-1, .812, playing away from the Tsongas Center this season.  That .812 winning percentage is the second best in the country.  Only Cornell, 7-1-1 .833, has a better record.
 
ON THE ROAD, AGAIN: UMass Lowell is 102-58-12, a .625 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the eight-plus years that Norm Bazin has led the program.  That .625 winning percentage is the best in the nation during that period.  The River Hawks are 78-47-11, .609, 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 is their longest bus ride of the season.  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.
 
HOME SWEET HOME: UMass Lowell has won five of ten 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.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND:  UMass Lowell, after a 28-day layoff, defeated Merrimack College, 3-1, last Saturday night in North Andover.  After a scoreless first period UMass Lowell got second period goals from Kenny Hausinger and Andre Lee to take command of the game.  Connor Sodergren added a third period marker as the visitors went on to a 3-1 win. 
 
CAREER WIN 51:  Goalie Tyler Wall picked up his 51st career win January 4 at Merrimack.  That moves Wall into a first place tie with Dwayne Roloson as the winningest goalies in UMass Lowell's Division I history.  Roloson had held the record since wrapping up his collegiate career in 1994.  Marty Fillion who's playing days ended in 1998 in now third with 50 career wins.
 
AT THE LAWLER RINK:  Saturday's 3-1 win against Merrimack was UMass Lowell's 36 win at the Lawler Rink, the most of any enemy building.  Thirty-two of those wins have come against Merrimack, the others have come in tournament play against various team.   The River Hawks have 30 wins at Northeastern's Matthews Arena and 26 wins on the ice at the Schneider Arena in Providence.
 
94 AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell's visit this weekend to the Gene Polisseni Center, a building that opened for business during the 2014-15 season, will push 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. 
 
FLYING SOLO:  Last Saturday's 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.
 
A WIN TONIGHT...  ...would also be the team's 12th win of the season and their sixth non-conference win.  If Tyler Wall is in nets the win would be his 52nd making him 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.
 
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.
 
NINETEEN GAMES IN:  Nineteen games into the season and UMass Lowell is several steps ahead of where it was a year ago.  The River Hawks are 11-4-4 at the nineteen game mark after being 10-8-1 a year ago.  The team is 6-2-3 in league play compared with 5-3-1 a year ago.
 
BACK-TO-BACK:  UMass Lowell has sixteen "back-to-back" weekend series this season.  Nine have been played, this is the tenth.  The team is 5-1-3 on the first night and 5-3-1 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.)
 
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 thirteen games decided by one-goal or less.  Seven of those dozen 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 6-3-4 in one-goal games this season.  The six one-goal wins in third most in the country.
 
EXTRA TIME:  Seven of the River Hawks 19 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 two teams have played overtime more often.  Providence and St. Lawrence, each, have played eight overtime games.
 
FIT TO BE TIED:  The November 15th 3-3 tie was the River Hawks fourth tie of the season.  That is third in the nation.  UMass Lowell is one of eight teams with four ties on their record.  Only Boston University and Providence 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 19 games.  This time around he's got three-goals and nine-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 one of two teams with just two losses.  The other, Boston College, has played just eight conference games and has a record of 6-2-0.  Everybody else in the conference has at least three losses.
 
NEXT WEEKEND:  The River Hawks return to the Tsongas Center for a pair of Hockey East games against different opponents.  UMass Lowell hosts Boston College on Friday night and welcomes Merrimack on Saturday evening.  BC holds a 65-41-10 edge in the all-time series, but the River Hawks are 7-2-1 in the last ten.  UMass Lowell beat Merrimack a week ago and hold an 80-40-12 edge in the series.
 
BACK IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT:  UMass Lowell is receiving recognition in the polls for the tenth straight week.  The team is slotted at number 11 in the USA Hockey Magazine poll and 13th in the USCHO Poll.  It is the tenth week in a row and the eleventh 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. 
 
2,422 DAYS:  It had been 2,422 days between UMass Lowell wins in Providence.  That last win in the Rhode Island Capital came on March 9, 2013 when the River Hawks defeated Providence 4-1 to clinch the Hockey East regular season crown.
 
A CLASS ABOVE: The UMass Lowell rookie class is the third highest scoring freshmen class in the country.  River Hawk freshmen, in 19 games, have scored 21-goals and 35-assists for 56-points.  Merrimack freshmen have 17-goals and 61-points in 21-games.  Providence, with 21 games played has 58-points.  Omaha also has 56-points from freshmen. Matt Brown with five-goals and 17-points is third in scoring among first year player in the country.  Carl Berglund is tenth among rookie scorers with six goals and 15-points.
 
A CHILD SHALL LEAD:  Freshman Matt Brown leads UMass Lowell in scoring with 17-points.  He is the nation's number-three point producing rookie and number two in Hockey East.  UMass Lowell is the only team in the country whose top three scorers are freshmen.  Brown has 17-points, Berglund 15 and Andre Lee has 14-points.
 
105 GAMES:  UMass Lowell forward Colin O'Neill has skated in 105 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 47.  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 (127) and Kenny Hausinger (121) joined the Century Club late last season.  Tyler Wall (89), Charlie Levesque (89), Connor Sodergren (86) and Anthony Baxter (85) are next on the list. 
 
THE 2020 SENIOR CLASS: The three-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 74-47-12, a .602 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.
 
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 61-46-30, .555, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season.  The team is 6-3-4 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 166-25-10, .851 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 32-79-20, .321, since 2011-12.
 
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 152-9-10 when leading after two-periods.  They are also 33-20-14 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 160-10-4, 75-4-3 at the Tsongas Center. The club is 7-0-0, 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 second in the country in saves in the third period and overtime.  Wall has stopped 206 of 218 shots (.945) in the final 25 minutes of hockey.
 
SUCCESS IS THE NORM: Norm Bazin now in his ninth season at the reins of UMass Lowell with a 198-104-30 record (.642) in 332 games. He has a 236-135-37 mark (.624) in 407 games now in his twelfth season as a collegiate head coach, including three seasons at Hamilton College.  Bazin is the sixth head coach in program history and the fifth Div. I boss.  He recorded his 100th career coaching victory on Nov. 23, 2013 vs. Notre Dame at the Tsongas Center and his 100th behind the River Hawk bench on October 9, 2015. He is also the fastest to the 100-win mark in school history. Bazin's 150th UML win came against Boston College in the 2017 Hockey East Championship Game.  His 200th career win came January 5, 2018 with a 6-0 shutout of Vermont.  His first UMass Lowell win came against Minnesota State, 4-2, on October 14, 2011.  Bazin is a three-time Hockey East Coach of the Year and was named the 2013 Spencer Penrose Award Winner as the Division I Coach of the Year.  Bazin has led the River Hawks to five NCAA tournament appearances, three Hockey East Tournament Championships (2013, '14, '17) and one Frozen Four appearance (2013).
 
PROTECTING THE NET: UMass Lowell is one of the top defensive team in Hockey East.  The River Hawks have a 1.89 goals against average.  That's fifth in the country and first in Hockey East.  UMass Lowell has allowed no more than two-goals in 14 of its 19 games.
 
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 33-goals while allowing just 20 while the teams have been playing with five skaters apiece.
 
DOMINATING THE DOT: UMass Lowell has been dominant in the faceoff circle this year and the year before.  The River Hawks have won 624 of 1,157, 53.9% of the puck drops.  That figure leads Hockey East and is the fifth best in the country.  Sam Knoblauch (31/51, 60.8%), Charlie Levesque (137/227, 60.4%), Lucas Condotta (162 of 279, 58.1%), Kenny Hausinger (23/41, 56.1%), Brian Chambers (23/43, 53.5%) and Colin O'Neil (60/115, 52.2%) 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 (11-43, 25.6%) in ten of its last twelve games.  That's 7th best in the country over a twelve game stretch.  The team is just 13 for 71, 18.3%, 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 in five opportunities.  On the season UMass Lowell has successfully killed 62 of 73 man down situations.  With an 84.9% success rate the PK Unit is fourth in Hockey East and 17th in the nation.  They have killed off 36 of 41 (87.8%) at home which ranks the River Hawks 20th in the country.
 
TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM: UMass Lowell is right in the middle in Hockey East when it comes to blocking shots.  The River Hawks are ranked sixth in the league with 217 blocked shots, an average of 11.42 shots blocked per game.
 
PUT IT ON THE WALL:  Senior goaltender Tyler Wall was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for November.  Wall, who is a candidate for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top NCAA goaltender, amassed 250 saves on 264 shots (.947 sv%) in the 5-1-2 month for the River Hawks. He posted a 1.71 GAA with one shutout in the month, along with a .750 winning percentage. Wall's 1.71 GAA and .947 save percentage both ranked second among Hockey East goaltenders in the month and his 250 saves in the month were the fourth most of any league netminder. He registered 30+ saves in five of eight starts in the month and allowed two goals or fewer in six of those starts. Wall went 3-1-2 in the month in six games decided by one goal or less.
 
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 1.69 GAA.  That's number five in the country and his .945 save percentage ranks second.  He leads Hockey East in both categories.
 
A GOOD START: UMass Lowell allowed just ten first period goals in 19 games this season.  That's just 0.53 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 ten first period goals and that ranks the team 51st 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 50 goals this season have come in the first five-minutes of a period.  That number, nineteen, is fourth 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, 16-13, 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: Three River Hawks have recorded 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.  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.
 
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 five clutch goals, four have given the team the lead, one has tied the score.  Matt Brown has four clutch goals and Zach Kaiser has three.  Berglund also is one of three players with two game-winning goals.  Andre Lee and Chase Blackmun also have two.
 
TURKEY LEG CLASSIC:  The River Hawks won the inaugural edition of the Turkey Leg Classic jointly hosted by UMass Lowell and Merrimack College by defeating Rensselaer and Penn State.  The River Hawks won the opener against Rensselaer, 4-0, behind two-goals from Connor Sodergren and 23 saves by goalie Tyler Wall.  Zach Kaiser got the only goal the River Hawks needed less than four-minutes into the first period.  Jon McDonald added a power play goal at the 6:38 mark of the period to give the home team at 2-0 lead.  Sodergren added two third period goals.  UML won the Championship game with a 3-2 overtime victory against Penn State, who had topped Merrimack, 7-0 in its opener.  UMass Lowell got the game winner from Chase Blackmun at 2:43 of the extra period.  The River Hawks also got goals from Anthony Baxter and Andre Lee.
 
HOSTING A TOURNAMENT:  The Turkey Leg Classic was the first time that UMass Lowell had hosted a tournament since the 1999-2000 season.  That was the Pepsi City of Lights Tournament in November of 1999.  The River Hawks won the tournament defeating UConn, 13-1, and Air Force, 3-1.  Air Force got to the Championships game with a 2-0 win against Yale.
 
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. 
 
WEEKLY HONORS: UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall has been honored by Hockey East five times this season as the Defensive Player of the Week.  He picked up the award first on October 14th and then again on three consecutive weeks, October 28th, and November 4th and 11th.  He added another award on December 2.  That was five awards in an eight-week span.
 
MONTHLY HONORS: UMass Lowell Freshman forward Matt Brown was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month for October.  Brown, with three-goals, six-assists for nine points, was the top scoring freshman not just in Hockey East, but in the country during the first month of the season.  Brown scored points in five of the River Hawks eight games in the month.  Brown has kept up the pace in November with a goal and five assists in five games in the new month.
 
TIME IS ON OUR SIDE, YES IT IS:  UMass Lowell has played nineteen hockey games and has only trailed for 226:57 of a total of 1,167-minutes and 12-seconds of hockey.  The River Hawks have skated with the lead for 478:35 or 41.0% of the time.  The two teams have been tied for 462:59 or 39.7% of the time.
 
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.
 
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 1,438 games including 1,371 Division I games.  He has missed only one game.  Poitras is working on a consecutive games streak that has now reached 962.  He is the only trainer in College Hockey to work games at both Northern Arizona and Arizona State.
 
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 5,868 after six home games, New Hampshire is second with an average of 4,466 after eight home games and Massachusetts is third, ten home games into the season, averaging 4,258.  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.
 
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 897-738-124, .544, and 637-616-117 record (.506) as a DI program.
 
RIVER HAWKS IN THE TOURNAMENT:  UMass Lowell has earned a spot in the Hockey East Tournament in 31 of the league's 35 seasons.  They have won the Lamoriello Trophy three times in the last seven years.  The River Hawks are 46-50-3 in Tournament play.  UMass Lowell has played in the tournament championship game seven times including five in a row between 2013 and 2017.