December 21 at UConn (5 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. - The No. 15 UMass Lowell hockey team will hit the road for the first time this season to visit UConn on Monday, December 21 for a 5 p.m. tilt.

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
After several starts UMass Lowell opened the season at the Tsongas Center last Sunday with a 4-2 loss to Providence.  The River Hawks were the 45th team in the country to play a game.  UMass Lowell is ranked 15th in both the USCHO and the USA Hockey Magazine Polls.  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 was the opening night netminder allowing three goals while making 25 saves.  In four career appearances Neaton has a 3.59 goals against average and an .876 save percentage.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
UConn has played four games this season and enters this afternoon's contest with a 1-2-1 record.  The team is 1-0-1 at home, but winless in two games on the road.  The Huskies split a pair of games against Boston College last weekend.  The club dropped an overtime contest the first night, 4-3, before winning in Storrs, 3-1, on Saturday.  Connecticut finished last season with a 15-15-4 record overall and a 12-10-2 record in conference play.  The team returns three of its top seven 2019-20 scorers.  Junior Carter Turnbull is the top returning scorer.  His 12 goals led the Huskies and his 24 points was second on the club.  Jonny Evans leads the team this go round with a goal and three assists.  Both Marc Gatcomb and Kale Howarth have a pair of goals.  Goalie Tomas Vomacka returns for his junior season.  He carries a 2.91 GAA and a .918 save percentage in to this meeting.  Vomacka had a 3.13 GAA and a .898 save percentage as a sophomore.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. UCONN
This is only the 40th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1969 when both were playing at a Division II level.  UMass Lowell leads the all-time series, 25-11-3 and are 3-1-1 in the last five. The River Hawks holds a slight edge (7-5-2) since UConn joined Hockey East.  UMass Lowell has twice won holiday tournaments hosted by UConn.  They defeated the Huskies, 4-3 on a David Vallorani overtime goal, in 2011 to win the Toyota UConn Holiday Classic in Storrs, Conn. and knocked off UConn 3-1 to win the Frozen Holiday Classic in Bridgeport, Conn. in 2014.  The two teams have never faced one another in the post season. 
 
SODS LEADS THE WAY
River Hawk senior Connor Sodergren is the team's top scorer against UConn.  Sodergren has been a point-per-game man against the Huskies totaling one-goal and six-assists for seven-points in seven-games.
 
LAST SEASON vs. UCONN
UMass Lowell and UConn split a three game season series during the 2019-20 campaign, each team winnings once after a tie in their first contest.  UConn took three out of four points during a weekend series in November.  The combatants battled to a 3-3 tie at the XL Center in Hartford on November 15th.  The River Hawks got goals from Connor Sodergren and Colin O'Neill to take 1-0 and 2-1 leads.  Matt Brown scored late in the second period to tie the contest at three.  Alexander Payusov, Marc Gatcomb and Kale Howarth scored for the Huskies.  The Huskies followed that with a Saturday night, 2-1, win in Lowell.  Wyatt Newpower and Brian Rigali scored goals to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.  Jon McDonald scored the River Hawk goal with 61-seconds left on the clock for the 2-1 final.  The final meeting between the two came on March 6th and proved to be the final game of the year for the two teams.  The River Hawks won that one, 3-1, at the Tsongas Center.  Andre Lee and Sam Knoblauch scored goals to give the River Hawks a 2-0 two-period lead.  Kale Howarth narrowed the gap with a third period goal before Seth Barton's 180-foot clear ended up in an empty net to provide the 3-1 final.
 
NOT GOING TO THE BOX
UMass Lowell and UConn were the two least penalized teams in Hockey East during the 2019-20 campaign.  UMass Lowell was the second least penalized team averaging just 10-penalty minutes per game.  Connecticut spent even less time behind bars, just 8.79 minutes per game.  The two teams combined for just twenty-three penalties, 46-minutes in the box during their three games against one another last season. That's an average of under eight-minutes per team per game.
 
AT THE FREITAS
UMass Lowell is one of two Hockey East teams ever to play a game(s) at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs, Connecticut prior to this season.  Since joining Hockey East UConn has played its home games at the XL Center in Hartford.  With no spectators allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic UConn moved its home games to the Freitas Ice Forum this season.  UMass Lowell participated in the Toyota UConn Hockey Classic in December of 2011 defeating both Rensselaer and UConn to win the holiday tournament.  The only other visiting Hockey East team to play at the Freitas Ice Forum was Merrimack during the 2008-09 UConn Hockey Classic.
 
LAST TIME AT THE FREITAS
UMass Lowell has never lost a game at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum.  The River Hawks have played two games on the Freitas Ice sheet, both as part of the Toyota UConn Hockey Classic in December of 2011.    Joe Pendenza scored twice and David Vallorani had the game winner as UMass Lowell defeated Rensselaer, 7-2, in the Tournament opener.  In the Championship Game Vallorani scored twice, including the overtime game winner, as the River Hawks defeated the host school, UConn, 4-3.  The Huskies had come from a 3-0 deficit to force the extra period.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
UMass Lowell finally opened the season last Sunday at the Tsongas Center with a 4-2 loss to Providence.  The visitors scored two power play goals and an empty net tally to erase a 2-1 UML lead.  Matt Brown and Reid Stefanson were the River Hawk scorers.  Logan Neaton made 25 saves in the loss.
 
14 SECONDS
Reid Stefanson's goal 14-seconds into the third period, December 13th, against Providence is one of the fastest in UMass Lowell Tsongas Center history.  It is not the fastest.  The fastest Tsongas Center goal is claimed by Scott Campbell who scored 11-seconds into the first period in an eventual 4-4 tie with Boston College on February 14, 2009.  The school record for the fastest goal from the start of a period is claimed by Danny Craig who scored 5-seconds into the second period in a 9-4 win against Vermont at the Tully Forum in 1984.
 
A WIN TONIGHT
A win would be the first of the season.  The River Hawks have lost their first two games only once during the Norm Bazin era.  That was to start the 2017-18 season when the team dropped three straight before beating Omaha, 5-2, at the Tsongas Center.  Twice in the Bazin Era, UMass Lowell has won its first three games and twice they have gone undefeated in their first five.  The longest wait for win number one came during the 1988-89 season.  That first win, a 7-5 victory at Northeastern, came in game number six.
 
AFTER A LOSS
UMass Lowell has done a terrific job avoiding any extended losing streak over the last couple of seasons.  The club has lost consecutive games just six times during the past two years.  Fourteen times the River Hawks followed a loss with either a win or a tie.  The team has not had a three-game losing streak since the 2017-18 season.
 
ON THIS DATE
UMass Lowell has never played a game on December 21.  During most seasons the hockey club is in the midst of the winter break and does not return to action until after the Christmas Holiday.
 
ROAD OPENERS
UMass Lowell is a .500 club when playing its first road game of the season.  They are 24-24-5 in road openers including a 3-2 win at Minnesota Duluth a year ago.  In that game UMass Lowell got two goals from Lucas Condotta during a three-goal second period.
 
 

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