December 13 vs. #19 Providence (NESN+ - 5 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. - After 282 days, the No. 8 ranked UMass Lowell hockey team is ready to start the 2020-21 season when the squad hosts No. 19 Providence on Sunday, December 13 at 5 p.m.

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
After several starts and stops this is the season opener for UMass Lowell.  UMass Lowell is ranked 8th in the USCHO Poll and 9th in the USA Hockey Magazine Poll.  The Hockey East Coaches' Pre Season polls placed the River Hawks fourth.  The River Hawks finished the 2019-20 season with an 18-10-6 overall and 12-7-5 in Hockey East play.  The club finished in third place in the conference and was preparing to host Boston University in the Hockey East quarterfinals when the season came to a halt as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.  They were 8-5-5 at the Tsongas Center and 10-5-1 on the road last season.  The River Hawks return nine of their top eleven scorers including their top three; sophomores Matt Brown, Carl Berglund and Andre Lee.  In all the team brings back 83.6-percent of its offense.  At the back end the defense is virtually intact, but goaltending will see a new face taking over the netminding responsibilities.  Sophomore Logan Neaton is the only goalie with collegiate experience.  Neaton started two games and appeared in three with a 3.85 goals against average.   
 
SCOUTING THE FRIARS
For Providence, this is their second weekend of hockey.  The team opened the season, last weekend, dropping a pair of games to Boston College, 3-0 and 9-0.  Providence is ranked 19th in the USCHO Poll.  The Hockey East Coaches' Pre Season polls placed the Friars third.  The Friars closed out the 2019-20 season with a 16-12-6 record overall, they were 10-11-3 in Hockey East play.  The team, still looking for its first goal of the year, returns eight of its top nine 2019-20 scorers.  Junior Tyce Thompson is the top returning scorer.  His 19 goals led the Friars and his 44 points ranked him second on the club.  He had two goals and four points in three games against the River Hawks a year ago.  Michael Callahan led Providence defensemen in scoring a year ago with 5 goals and 28-points.  Gabe Mollot-Hill started both games against Boston College.  He enters tonight's game with a 4.47 goals against average and a .846 save percentage.  Graduate Transfer Anton Martinsson has the most experience playing 57 games during three seasons with Alaska Fairbanks.  He has a 2.97 career GAA and an .899 save percentage.   
 
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. PROVIDENCE
This is the 122nd meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1982.  Providence leads the series 61-49-11.  The River Hawks won two of three contests a year ago. Providence swept the two-game season series in each of the three previous seasons and hold a 7-3-0 edge in the last ten.  Providence also has an edge, 15-11-0, since Norm Bazin and Nate Leaman became the respective Head Coaches in 2011-12.  The teams have met seven times in the Hockey East Tournament totaling 11 games with UML holding a 7-3-1 edge and moving into the next round five times.
 
LAST YEAR
UMass Lowell took two of three against Providence.  Each team was a winner on the road as the River Hawks won a pair of one-goal games in the Schneider Area, each by the score of 3-2, and the Friars took a 4-1 decision at the Tsongas Center.  In the first meeting, October 26th, in Providence, freshmen Matt Brown, Zach Kaiser and Carl Berglund scored for the visitors.  Berglund's game winner came with just 40-seconds remaining in the overtime period.  Senior goalie Tyler Wall made 40 saves.  In the second visit to Providence, on December 6th, Wall made 35 saves as the River Hawks overcame a two-goal deficit and defeated Providence, 3-2.  Providence took an early 2-0 lead on goals by Michael Callahan and Greg Printz.  Kenny Hausinger's penalty shot goal late in the first period narrowed the Friar lead to a goal.  Connor Sodergren and Charlie Levesque scored goals in the first 2:03 of the third period to give the River Hawks a lead they would never relinquish.  Providence took the final meeting between the two a year ago, 4-1.  Tyce Thompson, Cam McDonald, Patrick Moynihan and Greg Printz scored goals for the visitors.
 
NORM and NATE
UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin and Providence Head Coach Nate Leaman took over behind their respective benches nearly ten years ago and since that time have combined for almost 400 wins.  Bazin shows a record of 205-110-32 while Leaman is 192-115-44.  Leaman holds a slight edge in head to head matches, 15-11-0.
 
FAMILY TIES
Providence senior Jason O'Neill is the brother of former River Hawk Colin O'Neill.  Colin wrapped up his River Hawk career with the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.  He leads the family scoring race with 44 (18g, 26a) career points to Jason's 32 (11g, 21a).  Colin won the head-to-head duel with one assist.  Neither made it onto the scoresheet when the teams met last season.

NON-CONFERENCE
Tonight's game between UMass Lowell and Providence is scheduled as a non-conference game.  If one of the scheduled Conference games against Providence cannot be played, then this game would count as a conference game.  The Hockey East schedules as first announced included twenty Hockey East Conference games and seven non-conference games.  
 
OVERTIME
Overtime will look a bit different this college hockey season.  The NCAA has adopted the system used by the National Hockey League.  Overtime hockey will be 3-on-3.  A penalty would call for a 4-on-3 or 5-on-3.  The overtime period will be five-minutes and begin after a two-minute intermission.
 
SHOOTOUT
For the first time in more than two decades Hockey East will use a shootout to decide games that are tied after the five minute overtime.  It will be a three-player shootout with the home team having the choice of whether to shoot or defend first.  If the score remains tied after the three rounds the shootout becomes a sudden-death/victory affair.  Hockey East did use a shootout during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.
 
24 SECONDS
There will be a 24 second moment of silence in memory of Travis Roy.  Roy, wearing uniform number 24, played college hockey at Boston University.  In 1995, he was injured in his first shift of his collegiate career and was paralyzed from the neck down.  That story, a drama of courage, determination, and the power of love, would open up an astonishing new life for one extraordinary young man – and touch the hearts of millions.  Roy passed away earlier this year, but his work carries on through the Travis Roy Foundation. 
 
OPENERS
UMass Lowell is 28-20-5, all-time, in season openers and 3-1-1 in the last five and 5-2-2 in Norm Bazin's nine openers.  The River Hawks are 31-18-4 in home openers but are just above the .500 mark when they open the season at home, 11-10-3.  UMass Lowell is 16-14-5 in Hockey East openers and 14-17-5 in Hockey East home openers.
 
OPENERS vs. PROVIDENCE
This is the first time that the River Hawks have faced Providence in the season opener.  The two have met three times in the UML home opener and the River Hawks hold the edge 2-0-1.  The most recent home opener against Providence was on October 22, 2010.  The River Hawks got two-goals from Joe Pendenza and Riley Wetmore had the overtime game winner in a 5-4 victory.
 
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
UMass Lowell is receiving recognition in the polls for the 24th straight week.  The team is slotted at number 8 in the USCHO Poll and at number 9 in the USA Hockey Magazine polls.  It is the 24th week in a row and the 6th time this season that UMass Lowell has appeared in at least one of the two polls.  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.
 

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