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LOWELL, Mass.—Coming off a sweep of Hockey East opponent Boston University last weekend, the No. 19 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (4-1-1, 2-0-0 HEA) takes the ice on Wednesday, Nov. 3, for a midweek matchup with Long Island (2-5-0). Puck drop for the non-conference tilt is slated for 7 p.m.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell enters tonight's contest against Long Island University with a 4-1-1 record after sweeping the number 19 in the nation Boston University Terriers, 3-0 and 2-1, in a home-and-home series last weekend. The River Hawks are undefeated in their last five. They are 2-0-1 at the Tsongas Center and 2-1-0 on the road. UMass Lowell has been listed as receiving votes in both the USCHO and USA Hockey Magazine polls but had not been ranked in the top twenty until this week when the club slotted in at number 19 in the USCHO Poll. Hockey East Coaches, in their pre-season poll, have placed the River Hawks seventh in the eleven-team conference. They currently sit in 5th place despite having played just two conference games. The River Hawks lost eight players from last year's squad which finished out a much-interrupted season with a 10-9-1 record and a trip to the Hockey East Championship Game. This year's roster shows eight new faces; six are freshmen, two are transfers. The club sees six of last year's top ten scorers returning this season.
Lucas Condotta leads the team in points with six (2g, 4a). Freshman
Matt Crasa (3-goals, 2-assists) and junior
Andre Lee (3-goals, 2-assists) are second in points with five and top the goal scoring charts with three. Eleven different players have scored goals and 17 have points. Goaltenders
Henry Welsch and
Owen Savory combined to start 19 of the team's 20-games a year ago. Welsch has started twice this season and Savory four times. Each has a shutout. Savory shows a GAA of 1.23 and a save percentage of .946. Welsch is at 2.51 / .898.
SCOUTING THE SHARKS
Long Island University is in its second year of Division I hockey and brings a 2-5-0 record into tonight's contest. The club's two wins came at home against Division II opponents Assumption and Post University. LIU is 0-5-0 on the road. The losses coming at Penn State (2), Notre Dame and Omaha (2). The Sharks have not scored more than two-goals in any of their five Division I games this season. Ten players have scored goals, six have more than one. Jordan Timmons, a transfer from Robert Morris, leads the team with four-goals. He had two goals a piece against Assumption and Post. Billy Jerry, a transfer from Rensselaer, and Jake Stevens, who formerly played at St. Lawrence, top the points chart with six. Jerry is second in goals with three. Stevens has six assists. Three goaltenders have seen action this season. Kris Carlson and Brandon Perrone, both transfers from Alaska Anchorage, have picked up victories in nets. Carslon, who's made four starts, has seen the most action and has a 3.55 goals against average and an .885 save percentage. BU transfer Vincent Purpura has also started twice and shows 6.33 and .842 numbers. Perrone's numbers come in at 1.40 and .905.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. LIU
This is LIU's second year of Division I hockey and the first ever meeting between the two teams on the ice. Other UMass Lowell teams have faced LIU in various sports with various levels of success. Overall UMass Lowell teams hold a 13-6-0 edge.
SCORING AGAINST LIU
No UMass Lowell players have ever skated in a game against LIU.
RESCHEDULED GAMES
UMass Lowell was supposed to have played a pair of games October 15-16. That did not happen when Long Island University was sidelined by COVID-19 protocols. The two games against L I U are being made up. The two teams meet tonight and then will play again on Friday February 25, 2022.
A FAMILY CONNECTION
The Riley name is no stranger to the profession of coaching hockey and no stranger to UMass Lowell. Brett Riley is a third generation College Hockey Coach and a relative of the man considered the Godfather of UMass Lowell hockey, Billy Riley. Brett Riley's father Rob served as head coach at Army West Point for 19 years and is currently an amateur scout for the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Jack Riley, Brett's grandfather, also coached at Army for more than 35 years after coaching the United States to the gold medal at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. Billy Riley is Jack's nephew. He is Brett's Grand Uncle.
FAMILY FEUD
This is not the first time that UMass Lowell has faced a Riley coached team. The River Hawks are 20-6-0 all-time against the Rileys. The club held an 8-5-0 record against Brett's grandfather Jack who coached at Army and a 12-1-0 record against Brett's uncle Rob who coached at Babson and Army. UML's own Billy Riley was 10-6-0 against family members.
NEW PROGRAMS
When UMass Lowell has played a "new" program, one in its first or second year of Division I hockey, it is 4-0-0. The River Hawks defeated Penn State 4-0 and 3-2 during the 2012-13 season and then beat Arizona State three years later by the scores 4-1 and 8-1. Although not a "Brand New" program UMass Lowell defeated St. Cloud State, 7-4, in the Huskies first year of Division I play.
AT LAST WE MEET
LIU will be the 58th current Division I hockey team that UMass Lowell has played a game against. The River Hawks have a slight edge in the games played the first time the combatants have met. UML holds a 28-26-3 advantage in first meeting games.
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
UMass Lowell swept Boston University 3-0 and 2-1 last weekend.
Owen Savory made 29 saves and
Andre Lee had a pair of goals and an assist on Friday night as UMass Lowell silenced #19 Boston University, 3-0, at the Agganis Arena. Lee scored the only goal, unassisted, the River Hawks would need at the 9:47 of the first-period. Lee and
Reid Stefanson added second period goals. For Savory the shutout was his first as a River Hawk. Savory made 19 saves on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center as the River Hawks completed the sweep with a 2-1 win.
Ben Meehan's first collegiate goal gave the home team and 1-0 first period lead and
Lucas Condotta added the eventual game winner shorthanded late in the second period.
EARNING SOME HONORS
UMass Lowell goalie
Owen Savory was honored by Hockey East as the Goaltender of the week after 48 of 49 shots in a weekend sweep of Boston University. Savory, a senior, made 29 saves Friday night to guide UMass Lowell to their second consecutive shutout, the seventh of his collegiate career. Savory then backboned UMass Lowell to a 2-1 victory on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center to finish the weekend with 48 total saves while allowing just one goal. He now owns a league-best 1.23 GAA and .946 save percentage and is ranked fifth in the country in GAA (1.23) and sixth in save percentage (.946).
SWEEP; IT DOESN'T HAPPEN EVERY DAY
UMass Lowell swept the regular season series from Boston University with the 3-0 and 2-1 wins this past weekend. It was the first time that the River Hawks had swept the season series from BU since the 2012-13 season. In that year UMass Lowell won the three regular season games by the scores of 4-3, 3-0 and 3-1. The club put the exclamation point on the domination with a 1-0 victory in the Hockey East Championship Game for a fourth victory against the Terriers in a single season. It should be noted that UMass Lowell swept BU two straight in the 2016 Hockey East quarterfinals, 3-2 and 5-0, in games played at the Tsongas Center.
TWO SHUTOUTS/TWO GOALIES
Last Friday night's shutout win was the second shutout in a row for the River Hawks, but the goaltenders were different.
Henry Welsch picked up his first UMass Lowell shutout October 23 with a 27-save performance in a 4-0 win against Michigan State at the Tsongas Center.
Owen Savory earned his River Hawk blank sheet last night with 29-saves in a 3-0 win against Boston University at the Agganis Arena. The last time UMass Lowell turned in back-to-back shutouts was in February of 2019 and again two different goalies did the work. Tyler Wall shut down Boston College, 3-0, on February 8, 2019 and Christoffer Hernberg blanked UMass, February 9, 2019, 2-0. Both games were at the Tsongas Center. It was the tenth time in UMass Lowell history that the team has posted back-to-back shutouts.
THE STREAK ENDS
When Boston University got in the board with just 1:35 remaining on the clock it ended what proved to be the second longest shutout streak in UMass Lowell hockey history. The team's shutout streak came to an end after 188-minutes and 48-seconds. It started during the October 22nd 2-2 tie against Michigan State. Goalies
Henry Welsch and
Owen Savory each turned in a shutout during the 188:48. The only longer River Hawk shutout streak was during the 2013-14 season and posted a time of 202:03. That stretch was authored by Connor Hellebuyck during the Hockey East and NCAA Tournaments.
GETTING SQUARED AWAY ON THE PK
The UMass Lowell penalty killing unit has stepped up during the last two weekends successfully killing off 17 of 18 shorthanded situations. In their last three games, one with Michigan State and two against Boston University, the River Hawks have successfully defended 13 straight power plays. All of that was after giving up five power play goals to Arizona State during the season's opening weekend, including four on opening night. On the year the River Hawks are 19-for-25, a 76.0% success rate.
SCORING WHEN SHORT A MAN
Six games into the season and UMass Lowell has been dangerous when short a skater. The River Hawks have three shorthanded goals in six games.
Reid Stefanson scored shorthanded at Arizona State,
Nik Armstrong-Kingkade found the back of the net with a teammate in the penalty box against Michigan State and
Lucas Condotta scored the game winner with Boston University on the power play. The three shorthanded goals have already topped last year's total in a twenty-game season. Condotta and
Zach Kaiser gave UMass Lowell a total of two shorthanded goals a year ago.
THROUGH SIX
This is only the sixth time in eleven years that the
Norm Bazin led River Hawks are above .500 through six games. The 4-1-1 record equals the team's best six-game start during the Bazin Era. The club was 4-1-1 at the start of the 2014-15 season. The best ever six game record was 5-0-1 in
Norm Bazin's senior season of 1993-94.
BACK IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
UMass Lowell is back in the national rankings. The USCHO Poll has placed the River Hawks in the number 18 slot. The River Hawks had been listed as "Receiving Votes" in both the USCHO and the USA Hockey Magazine Polls since the start of the year, but Monday the team moved into the "Ranked" column. The team with a strong finish and playoff run ended last year ranked 19th in the USCHO Poll. The River Hawks are no stranger to the polls, the River Hawks have been in the polls numerous times in recent years and had been nationally ranked for 116 consecutive polls between Jan. 7, 2013 and Oct. 23, 2017.
AGAINST NATIONALLY RANKED TEAMS
UMass Lowell is 2-0-0 against Nationally Ranked teams this season after the weekend sweep against BU. The club was just 4-7-1 against Nationally ranked opponents last season. The wins came against UConn, Northeastern, Boston University and Boston College. The tie also came against BU. The club dropped games against UMass (3), Boston College (2), Providence and Northeastern. After the sweep of #19 BU the River Hawks are 74-63-13 against Nationally Ranked teams during the
Norm Bazin Era.
