Friday, March 6th vs. UConn (7:15pm)
SENIOR NIGHT (Wall, O'Neill, Hausinger)
(Tsongas Center; Lowell, Mass.)
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Talent: Connor Capozzi (Play by Play);Â Tim Casagrande (Analyst)
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell is 17-10-6 / 11-7-5 after taking three of four points from New Hampshire last weekend. The team is 10-5-1 on the road this season and only 7-5-5 at the Tsongas Center. The River Hawks are in sole possession of third place, one-point behind Massachusetts and one-point ahead of tonight's opponent, UConn. They can finish anywhere from second to sixth place. The team is ranked 12th in both the USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO Polls. They are 13th in the Pairwise rankings. The River Hawks were picked for a sixth place finish in both the Hockey East Coaches' and the Media Pre-Season polls. Twenty players have scored goals this season, five have six or more. Carl Berglund leads the team with twelve. Connor Sodergren has eight while Kenny Hausinger and Andre Lee have seven. Matt Brown has six. Brown leads the team with 24-points including 18 assists. The top three point scorers, Brown (24pts.), Berglund (22pts.) and Lee (19pts.), are freshmen. Goalie Tyler Wall has started thirty-one of the team's thirty-three games with a 2.14 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. Wall has authored two of his nine career shutouts this season.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Connecticut is 15-14-4 / 12-9-2 after splitting a pair of one-goal games last weekend against Massachusetts. UConn is in the final home ice playoff spot, fourth place, one-point behind UMass Lowell and one-point ahead of Maine. The Huskies are 8-6-2 at home and 7-8-2 playing away from the XL Center. The team was picked to finish ninth in the Coaches' Pre-Season Poll and in the Media Pre-Season Poll. UConn returned five of its top six 2018-19 point scorers. Seventeen different players have scored goals, three are in double digits, eight have seven or more. Carter Turnbull and Alexander Payusov, each, have a dozen. Vladislav Firstov has eleven. Benjamin Freeman leads the team with 28-points, including a team leading 21-assists. Goalie Tomas Vomacka has started 32 of the team's 33 games and has a 3.16 goals against average and an .898 save percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. UCONN: This is only the 39th 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, 24-11-3 and are 3-1-1 in the last five, including two by shutout. The River Hawks holds a slight edge (6-5-2) 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.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: These two teams met twice back in November. UConn took three out of four points during that weekend series. UMass Lowell and UConn 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 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.
NOT GOING TO THE BOX: UMass Lowell and UConn are the two least penalized teams in Hockey East. UMass Lowell is the second least penalized team averaging just 10-penalty minutes per game. Connecticut spends even less time behind bars, just 8.70 minutes per game. The two teams combined for just twelve penalties, 24-minutes in the box during their first two games against one another earlier this season.
LAST YEAR VERSUS UCONN: UMass Lowell swept the two-game season series, 5-2 and 3-0. The River Hawks got two-goals from Ryan Dmowski in a 5-2 win at the XL Center in Hartford. Ruslan Iskhakov gave UConn a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest. Dmowski and Lucas Condotta scored first period goals to give the River Hawks a lead they would never relinquish. Tyler Wall made 38 saves to earn the win. Back at the Tsongas Center, Wall made 28 saves to support goals from Kenny Hausinger, Reid Stefanson and Colin O'Neill.
TIEBREAKER: With four teams still battling for two remaining home ice spots in the opening round of the Hockey East playoffs winning the season series becomes magnified. The season series is the first in a series of tiebreakers. UMass Lowell holds that first tiebreaker with Maine, but has lost the season series to Boston University. The River Hawks trail, 0-1-1, in the season series with UConn with one game still to play.
NEEDED TO CLINCH HOME ICE: UMass Lowell can clinch a home ice playoff spot with a win or a tie against UConn. A Boston University loss or tie in the Terrier's home-and-home series with Northeastern would also give the River Hawks home ice.  Although Maine could tie UMass Lowell for fourth place, the River Hawks have the first tiebreaker and would earn the fourth seed.
HOME (?) FOR THE PLAYOFFS:  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. UMass Lowell is the only Hockey East school that can make that claim during that eight-year period. Whether that streak will continue will be determined tonight.
PLAYOFFS: With last Saturday night's 3-2 win at New Hampshire, UMass Lowell has now earned a spot in the Hockey East Tournament in 32 of the league's 36 seasons. They have won the Lamoriello Trophy three times in the last eight 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.
THE 2020 SENIOR CLASS: The three-member UMass Lowell senior class has accumulated a record of 80-53-14, a .592 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 eighth in wins and seventh in winning percentage, among UML teams. The 2016 senior class tops the list with 100 victories.
THE SENIORS: The UMass Senior Class will be honored in on-ice ceremonies before tonight's hockey game. The class includes forwards Kenny Hausinger and Colin O'Neill and goalie Tyler Wall. Wall is the River Hawks Division 1 career leader with 57 wins.  Hausinger is the team's top active career scorer with 39-goals and 78-points. O'Neill is third among active career scorers with 44-points. He also is fourth among UML Division I players with five shorthanded goals.
TONIGHT'S PROMOTION: The first 1,000 fans will receive a SUPER ROWDY Bobble Head, the latest in the Rowdy Bobble Head series, courtesy of XFinity. Super Hero activities are planned during the game.
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND: UMass Lowell took three out of four points in a home-and-home series against New Hampshire. Jon McDonald scored during a six-on-four with just 57-seconds remaining, the first night, as UMass Lowell came from behind to tie New Hampshire 2-2 at the Tsongas Center. It was the third time in two years that the teams had played to a 2-2 tie. Sam Knoblauch had given the home team a 1-0 lead in the first period, but the visitors countered with a goal by Filip Engaras before the period was over. Eric Esposito gave UNH a 2-1 lead after two periods. On Saturday night in Durham UMass Lowell got goals from Sam Knoblauch, Colin O'Neill and Anthony Baxter to earn a 3-2 win. O'Neill's goal came on a third period penalty shot and gave the River Hawks a 2-0 lead.
PENALTY SHOT: Kenny Hausinger and Colin O'Neill have scored on penalty shots this season. It is the first time that UMass Lowell has had two successful penalty shots in a single season. The penalty shot goals were just the fifth and sixth successful penalty shots in UMass Lowell Division I history. Five of the six have come on the road. Hausinger's penalty shot goal December 6 against Providence was the first successful UML penalty shot since Jake Kamrass scored at Nebraska Omaha October 29, 2016. O'Neill's penalty shot goal came last Saturday night at UNH. UMass Lowell won each of the games in which they scored on the penalty shot. Mattias Göransson was stopped on a penalty shot attempt against Vermont January 19, 2019.
TIED AGAIN: Last Friday night's game against New Hampshire was the sixth tie game that UMass Lowell has played this season. That number "6" is the second most in a single River Hawk season. The club had seven ties in both the 2003-04 and the 2006-07 seasons. Five ties at home is the program record.
BIG ICE: The Norm Bazin led River Hawks have played well on "Big Ice." The River Hawks are 46-22-6 on ice sheets larger than the standard/NHL 200 x 85 during Bazin's almost nine years behind the bench. With last Saturday night's 3-2 win they are 13-4-1 on the Olympic, 200 x 100, sheet including a 7-4-0 record at the Whittemore Center.
45 SAVES: When Tyler Wall made 45-saves February 22nd in UMass Lowell's 5-3 loss at Massachusetts it was the most pucks stopped by a River Hawk goalie in more than eight years. The last UMass Lowell netminder to make 45 saves in a game was Doug Carr. That happened in a 5-3 win at New Hampshire of December 3, 2011. Carr made 28 saves in the first period of that game. That's 3,003 days between 45-save performances.
A WIN TONIGHT... ...would guarantee the River Hawks home ice in the opening round of the Hockey East Tournament. It could move UMass Lowell into sole possession of second place. At the very least it would keep the River Hawks right where they are, third place. If Tyler Wall is in nets the win would be his 58th. He is the River Hawks Division I career leader.
NEXT WEEKEND: The Hockey East playoffs begin. It will be the quarterfinal round. UMass Lowell will be part of it, but who and where they will play has yet to be determined.
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: UMass Lowell navigated a difficult month of February to move from a four-way tie for fourth place when the month began to sole possession of third place when the month was over. The River Hawks had eight games against five different opponents. Only one had a sub .500-record at the time the teams faced one another. River Hawk opponents had a combined record of 120-86-19, .576, when they met. UMass Lowell went 4-3-1, .563, during the month.
A CHILD SHALL LEAD:  Freshmen Matt Brown, with 24-points, Carl Berglund, with 22, and Andre Lee with 19, lead UMass Lowell in scoring. They are three of the top 13 point producing rookies in Hockey East. UML is the only team in the country whose top three scorers are freshmen.
FRESHMAN TRIO:  Freshmen Matt Brown (24pts.), Carl Berglund (22pts.) and Andre Lee (19pts.) all have at least 19-points. If Lee picks up an additional point it would give UMass Lowell three freshmen with 20-points or more for the first time since the 1992-93 season when Jeff Daw (12g, 18a, 30pts), Christian Sbrocca (10g, 17a, 27pts.) and Jon Mahoney (11g, 9a, 20pts.) all reached the 20-point plateau. Daw (141pts.) and Sbrocca (171pts.) skated into the UMass Lowell Athletic Hall of Fame. Mahoney finished his career with 88-points.
A CLASS ABOVE: The UMass Lowell rookie class is one of the highest scoring freshmen class in the country. River Hawk freshmen, in 33 games, have scored 34-goals and 53-assists for 87-points. That ranks UMass Lowell fifth in the country. Merrimack, with 16 freshmen, tops the charts 36-goals and 112-points. Boston University is second with 110-points. Boston College is third with 105-points. Wisconsin is fourth with 104-points from freshmen. The River Hawks are sixth in goals with 34. Wisconsin and Boston College have 44 leads. Matt Brown and Carl Berglund with 24 and 22-points respectively are 12th and 21st in scoring among first year players in the country. Carl Berglund, with twelve-goals, is sixth among rookie goal scorers.
GETTING ON THE BOARD FIRST: UMass Lowell is 11-4-4 this season when they score the first goal of the game. Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching responsibilities, the River Hawks are 150-28-18 when they score the first goal of the game. That's a .811 winning percentage. That figure is the second best in the nation. Minnesota State is tops the charts at 168-32-13 (.819). BC comes in third at 161-33-18 (.802). Denver is fourth at 162-33-19 (.801). For reference, the national average over the last 9 years is .697, and this year it's .705.
OUTSHOT BUT NOT UNDONE: In twenty of UMass Lowell's 33 games the River Hawks have been outshot, but that has had little to do with the outcome. UMass Lowell is 12-5-3 in games in which they have been outshot. On the hand, when they have the shooting edge they are only 4-5-3. Shots have been even just once this year and UMass Lowell won that game.
BACK-TO-BACK: UMass Lowell has played sixteen "back-to-back" weekend series this season. The team is 8-4-4 on the first night and 8-6-2 on the second.  They have swept both Alabama Huntsville and Vermont and had a sweep weekend by beating both Rensselaer and Penn State and Boston College and Merrimack on consecutive nights. The River Hawks have been swept just once, by Northeastern.
119 GAMES:  UMass Lowell forward Colin O'Neill has skated in 119 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 60. Michael Kapla is the River Hawk record holder with 161 consecutive games played.
THE CENTURY CLUB: Only two members of the UMass Lowell roster entered this season having played more than 100 games in their collegiate careers. Three more have now joined them. Colin O'Neill (141) and Kenny Hausinger (133) joined the Century Club late last season. Charlie Levesque (103) and Tyler Wall (102) added their names two weeks ago. Connor Sodergren (100 joined the club last Saturday.
Anthony Baxter (99) is expected to join the club tonight. After that there will be a bit of a wait. Lucas Condotta (67) is next on the list.
BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: UMass Lowell is 65-49-32, .555, in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season. The team is 10-6-6 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 172-26-10, .851 during the last almost nine 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 32-84-22, .310, since 2011-12.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 157-9-11 when leading after two-periods. That includes a 14-0-2 mark this season. They are also 33-24-14 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 2-1-3, 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 164-11-4, 77-5-3 at the Tsongas Center. The club is 11-1-0, 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 6-71-7, 2-32-4 at Tsongas. This year the club is 1-5-1 when trailing by two.
OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: UMass Lowell is eighth in Hockey East in offense from the defense. The River Hawks defensemen have combined for 16-goals and 59-points. That represents 25.1% of the team's offensive output. Massachusetts tops the list; with 21-goals and 89-points, 32.5% of the team's offense has come from defensemen. Boston University is second with 31.3% of its offense coming from the defense.
DEFENSE: Over the past eight-plus seasons, UMass Lowell has allowed just 2.27 goals per game and has a .920 save percentage. Those number are among the best in the country. Only three teams, (Cornell 2.15, Quinnipiac 2.21 and Minnesota State 2.20), have a better goals against average and just one, (Denver .921) 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. St. Cloud tops the lists at 11.1%. Hockey East rivals Boston College is at 10.7% and Northeastern is at 10.5%. Minnesota is at 10.3%.
ON THE ROAD: UMass Lowell is 10-5-1, .656, playing away from the Tsongas Center this season. That .656 winning percentage is the seventh best in the country and second best among Hockey East schools.
ON THE ROAD, AGAIN: UMass Lowell is 106-62-12, a .622 winning percentage when playing away from the Tsongas Center in the almost nine years that Norm Bazin has led the program. That .622 winning percentage is the second best in the nation during that period. Quinnipiac, at 104-59-20, .623, is first. The River Hawks are 82-51-11, .608, as the road team and 24-11-1, .681, in games played at a neutral site.
HOME SWEET HOME?: UMass Lowell has won seven of sixteen with five ties at the Tsongas Center this season and is 98-48-19 (a .652 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.
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 three times this season, they have not lost three straight. They have followed losses with wins four times and three times with ties.
THIRTY-THREE GAMES IN:  Thirty-three games into the season and UMass Lowell appears to have slipped slightly behind last year's pace. The River Hawks are 17-10-6 after being 18-11-4 a year ago. The team is 11-7-5 in league play compared with 12-7-4 a year ago.
WINNING THE SEASON SERIES: UMass Lowell has won the season series from five of its Hockey East rivals. The River Hawks swept Merrimack and Vermont, they held a 2-1-0 edge against Providence and a 1-0-1 edge against Maine and New Hampshire. They split the season series with Boston College and Massachusetts. The season series with UConn is still be to be determined.
WINNING THE SEASON SERIES - Part II: UMass Lowell has won the season series from Merrimack by winning all three contests. It is the 21st time in 31 years that UMass Lowell has taken the season series from their valley rivals. That 21 is the most season series wins against any opponent. It was also the ninth time that UMass Lowell has swept the season series from Merrimack.
200!: UMass Lowell 6-4 win against Merrimack, January 18th, was Head Coach Norm Bazin 200th win behind the River Hawk bench. It came in his 336 game at the helm. His first win at UMass Lowell came on October 14, 2011 against Minnesota State, 4-2. Bazin is the second UMass Lowell coach to reach the 200-win plateau. Billy Riley won 363 games during a career that brought the program from Division II to Division I. Riley's 200th win came in his 304th games.
900: The February 7th 3-2 win at Boston College was UMass Lowell's 900th in program history. The River Hawks are the 32nd team in college hockey and the sixth in Hockey East to reach that number. The River Hawks are currently at win # 903 and still counting.
THE ORDER OF THE ENGINEER: Senior goalie and Mechanical Engineering major Tyler Wall joined the Order of the Engineer in ceremonies in mid-February. The tradition finds graduating students pledge toward "upholding devotion to the standards and dignity of the engineering profession." They are to serve their field with integrity and professionalism. It is the engineering version of the Hippocratic Oath.
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 328 of 358 shots (.916) 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 2.36 goals against average. That's 17th in the country and fifth in Hockey East. UMass Lowell has allowed no more than two-goals in 22 of its 33 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 63-goals while allowing just 43 while the teams have been playing with five skaters apiece.
GENERATING OFFENSE: UMass Lowell has the third highest percentage of offense generated at even strength. 63 of the team's 87 goals (72.4%) have come at even strength. That 72.4% is the third highest in Hockey East. UMass has the highest percentage of even strength goals at 83.0%. The River Hawks have generated 25.3% of its offense on the power play and added a couple of shorthanded goals. Providence leads Hockey East in percentage of offense generated on the power play at 33.3%.
FLUXUATIONS IN THE POWER GRID: The UMass Lowell power play has been an up and down affair scoring in just five of the team's last ten games. That said, the River Hawks are 20-82, 24.4% in their last twenty-six games. The team is just 22 for 110, 19.8%, on the season. That's after starting the year 2-for-28, 7.1%.Â
PK OK?: The UMass Lowell penalty killing unit hit another couple of bumps on the road. After killing off 19 consecutive shorthanded situations the River Hawks allowed 12 power play goals in a nine-game stretch. On the season UMass Lowell has successfully killed 102 of 126 man down situations. With an 81.0% success rate the PK Unit is sixth in Hockey East and 32nd in the nation.
ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT: UMass Lowell has played twenty-two 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 10-6-6 in one-goal games this season.
DOMINATING THE DOT: UMass Lowell has been dominant in the faceoff circle this year. The River Hawks have won 1,037 of 1,978, 52.4% of the puck drops. That figure is second in Hockey East and is the 14th best in the country. Charlie Levesque (232/391, 59.3%), Sam Knoblauch (39/67, 58.2%), Lucas Condotta (259 of 451, 57.4%), Kenny Hausinger (78/139, 56.1%) and Brian Chambers (36/65, 55.4%) lead the way. Levesque is third in Hockey East and 13th in the country.
NON-CONFERENCE: The games on January 10 and 11 at R I T wrapped up 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.
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 is now third with 50 career wins. Wall has now upped his win total to 57.
EXTRA TIME:  Nine of the River Hawks 33 games have gone into overtime. That equals the school record. The most overtime games that the River Hawks have played in a year is nine. That's now happened four times. The most recent was during the 2015-16 season when the club went 3-1-5 in overtime. UMass Lowell is 2-1-6 in overtime this season.
OT AGAIN:  UMass Lowell has played nine overtime games this season, only seven teams have played overtime more often. Bowling Green has played in the greatest number; twelve. Six other teams have played in ten or more.
FIT TO BE TIED:  The February 28th 2-2 tie with New Hampshire was the River Hawks sixth tie of the season. That is sixth in the nation. UMass Lowell is one of 13 teams with six or more ties on their record. Only Boston University and Colgate have eight.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Things have changed for three River Hawk defensemen. Jon McDonald (+6), Seth Barton (+6) and Chase Blackmun (+3) have increased their offensive output. Blackmun leads the group with five-goals and 16-points.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT:  UMass Lowell is receiving recognition in the polls for the 18th straight week. The team is slotted at number 12 in both the USCHO and in the USA Hockey Magazine polls. It is the 18th week in a row and the 19th 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.
NO TIME FOR PENALTIES: No penalties, none at all. When UMass Lowell played Boston University of January 25th the River Hawks were not whistled for a single penalty in the hockey game. It is only the fifth time the team has played a penalty-free game in its history. The night before UMass Lowell was whistled for 35-minutes in penalties in a game against BU. The last time UMass Lowell played a game without a single penalty call against them was March 18, 2016 when the River Hawks beat Providence 2-1 in triple overtime in the Hockey East Semifinals.
OUTSHOT BUT NOT BEATEN: UMass Lowell was outshot by 24 (39-15) in its January 18th 6-4 win against Merrimack. The last time that UMass Lowell was outshot by at least 24 and won was January 12, 1990 when the then-Chiefs beat #8 Maine 2-1 on a Don Parsons goal with 2:12 remaining in the third period despite being outshot 41-15.   Goalie Mark Richards made 40 saves. UMass Lowell is 10-4-3 when outshot in a game this season.
WALL NOMINATED FOR HOBEY BAKER AWARD:  Goaltender Tyler Wall has been nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. 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 17-8-6 record in 31 starts in his senior season with a 2.14 GAA, a .930 save percentage and two shutouts. His .930 save percentage is ranks tenth among Div. I goaltenders and his GAA ranks 18th in the nation. He has allowed two goals or fewer in 21 of 31 starts this season and has registered 30+ saves in 15 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 fourth in the league with 371 blocked shots, an average of 11.24 per game.
THE GREAT WALL:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the nation's leaders in goals against average and save percentage. Wall has a 2.14 GAA. That's number eighteen in the country and his .930 save percentage ranks tenth. He is second in Hockey East in save % and fifth in GAA.
A GOOD START: UMass Lowell allowed just 16 first period goals in 33 games this season. That's just 0.48 goals per first period and that's ranks the River Hawks 6th best in the country and number two among Hockey East teams. Cornell and Niagara lead the nation. Each has given up just 14 first period goals. On the other side of the equation UMass Lowell has scored just 21 first period goals and that ranks the team 40th in the country. The team is 6-3-1 when leading after one period.
THE FIRST 5:  UMass Lowell has scored a goal in the first five minutes of play in nine of their first 33 games this season. That's seventh in the country, but just three goals off the lead. They did it in victories against Alabama Huntsville twice, Minnesota Duluth, Vermont, Rensselaer, Merrimack and Massachusetts but lost after taking a 1-0 lead at the 4:40 mark of the first period against Colgate and lost after scoring twice in the first 71-seconds against Boston College. Twenty-eight of the River Hawks 87 goals this season have come in the first five-minutes of a period. That number, 28, is tenth 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. This season has been different. UMass Lowell has been outscored, 36-31, in the third period this season.
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 nine clutch goals, five have given the team the lead, four have tied the score. Matt Brown has five clutch goals and five players have three. Berglund also leads the team with three game winning goals. Andre Lee, Chase Blackmun and Marek Korencik have two.
Vs. BIG TIME FOOTBALL SCHOOLS: UMass Lowell is 60-26-7 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 20-3-1 mark against Massachusetts. The River Hawks are also 11-10-2 against Boston College and 7-6-2 against UConn. They also have winning records against Michigan State, Wisconsin and Miami.
TIME IS ON OUR SIDE, YES IT IS: UMass Lowell has played 33 hockey games and has only trailed for 430:26 (21.3%) of a total of 2,017-minutes and 12-seconds of hockey. The River Hawks have skated with the lead for 755:23 or 37.5% of the time. The two teams have been tied for 778:05 or 38.6% of the time.
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 39 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 1,452 games including 1,385 Division I games. He has missed only one game. Poitras is working on a consecutive games streak that has now reached 976. He is the only trainer in College Hockey to work games at both Northern Arizona and Arizona State.
ATTENDANCE NUMBERS: UMass Lowell is fourth in average attendance among Hockey East schools. The River Hawks are averaging 4,392 fans per game after seventeen home games. Boston College leads the conference drawing 5,612 after a fourteen home games, New Hampshire is second with an average of 4,718 after sixteen home games, Massachusetts is third, sixteen home games into the season, averaging 4,694.  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.
