AMHERST, Mass.—Despite power play goals from juniors Ryan Brushett (Montreal, Quebec) and Andre Lee (Karlstad, Sweden), the No. 15 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (8-3-3, 6-2-1 Hockey East) could not complete its late-game comeback, falling 3-2 to No. 14 Massachusetts (8-4-2, 6-2-2 HEA) at the Mullins Center Saturday night.
 
Junior Carl Berglund (Hammaro, Sweden) dished out a pair of assists to top the River Hawks' scoresheet against the Minutemen, finishing the weekend with three points off three assists. In net, sophomore Henry Welsch (Lakeville, Minn.) made 14 stops on 17 shots in his return to the ice.
 
"We were ten minutes short. If the game was ten minutes longer, we could've pushed for that last goal, but it just wasn't meant to be. We certainly came up short tonight," commented Head Coach Norm Bazin following the game. "I liked the kids' effort. In the third period, it was slanted our way. I don't think we took a defensive zone faceoff, so that was great. But, it was too little too late."
 
Scoring favored the home team early, as a River Hawk penalty gave UMass a chance to score two minutes into the contest. UMass Lowell tried to level the field early but was shut down by the UMass defense to head into the first intermission down one.
 
The Minutemen continued their offensive push into the second, extending their lead to 2-0 3:30 into the frame as UMass' Scott Morrow took advantage of a defensive misstep and slotted one past Welsch.
 
Staring down a two-goal deficit heading into the second break, the River Hawks picked up momentum late in the frame. With an opportunity to strike on the power play, UMass Lowell pressured UMass' Matt Murray in hopes of chipping away at the Minutemen's margin. Moving the puck around the perimeter, Brushett connected with a pass from Berglund and fired one past the glove of Murray to cut the score to 2-1 moving into the third.
 
UMass registered another early tally to move to a 3-1 advantage off a goal from Anthony Del Gaizo. Launching a late-game comeback effort, the River Hawks went to work on special teams once again. Chasing down a rebounded shot, Lee picked up a pass from Berglund from the top of the slot. The Swedish-born forward then fired in a long-range shot from the top of the circle that beat Murray blocker side to make it a one-goal game.
 
With the minutes quickly ticking down, the River Hawks made one final push, peppering the UMass blueline with a flurry of shots to outshoot the Minutemen, 15-3. The comeback attempt was not enough, however, as UMass claimed the 3-2 decision.
 
UMass Lowell looks ahead to a two-game road stand next weekend, Dec. 10-11, as they travel north to visit Vermont.