Thursday v. Michigan State: Live Stats |
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Game Notes
Friday v. Michigan State: Live Stats |
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Game Notes
LOWELL, Mass.—The No. 16 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (2-1-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East) heads west for its first road trip of the year, Oct. 13-14, to face off against non-conference foe Michigan State (1-1-0, 0-0-0 Big Ten). Puck drop for Thursday night's tilt is set for 7 p.m., while Friday's start time is slated for 7:30 p.m.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
The River Hawks head into the weekend series with Michigan State on a one-game winning streak after posting a comeback win Saturday night against Miami (OH). Through the first three games, seniors
Brian Chambers and
Carl Berglund have emerged as point leaders for UMass Lowell. Berglund and Chambers led the River Hawks with a team-best three points each last weekend against the RedHawks. Berglund scored a pair of goals and added an assist, while Chambers dished out a career-best three helpers in the outing. The pair of veteran forwards currently owns a team-best four points each. Berglund's three goals in three games are good for first on the team, while Chambers' three assists is also a team-best mark.
UMass Lowell's defense has found success on both ends of the ice this season, adding depth to the River Hawks' attack. Three of the team's seven multi-point scorers this year come off the blue line, with
Isac Jonsson,
Marek Korencik and
Jon McDonald all having two points to their credit this season. The defense has also been working hard to get bodies in front of shots this season. Junior
Brehdan Engum is averaging 2.0 blocks a game in his first three appearances this season for a team-best six thus far. Not far behind, McDonald owns five, while Korencik, Jonsson and sophomore
Gabe Blanchard have four apiece.
Graduate transfers
Gustavs Davis Grigals is likely to get the nod in goal once again for UMass Lowell after moving to a 2-0-0 mark on Saturday. The goalie stopped 22 shots against the RedHawks to help the River Hawks complete the 4-2 comeback. In his first two games, he is averaging a 1.0 GAA and a .961 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
The Spartans are coming into this weekend's series after a 1-1 home-and-home series with Bowling Green. Michigan State dropped the opener at the Munn before hitting the road to visit the Falcons and pick up a narrow 2-1 win. Freshmen led the scoring for Michigan State opening weekend, with all three of their goals coming off the sticks of freshmen. Daniel Russell was a scoring force for the Spartans with goals in both games against Bowling Green, including Saturday's game-winner. Shoudy net the game-tying goal for the Spartans on Saturday to help secure the series split.
On defense, the Spartans returned five key members of their defensive core from last year: Nash Nienhuis, David Guicciardi, Christian Krygier, Cole Krygier and Powell Connor. Nienhuis had a hand in both of Russell's goals last weekend and is currently tied for first in points with Russell. Michigan State bolstered its experienced blueline with the addition of Michael Underwood, a graduate transfer from Clarkson. The newcomer has 130 games of experience under his belt along with a 5-13-18 line, 98 career PIMs and 161 blocked shots.
Between the pipes, Dylan St. Cyr played both games last weekend for the Spartans. In Friday's 3-1 loss, he made 26 saves and then bounced back Saturday with 16 saves and just one goal allowed in the 2-1 win. A new face for the Spartans, St. Cyr joined the teams as a graduate transfer from Quinnipiac.
SCORING AGAINST THE SPARTANS
Last year's homestand against the Spartans saw a number of firsts for the River Hawks in the scoring column. Notably, defenseman
Brehdan Engum scored his first collegiate goal in the team's opening night 2-2 tie with the Spartans.
Nik Armstrong-Kingkade had a career night on night two for UMass Lowell, scoring two goals for the first multi-point and multi-goal game of his career. Senior
Carl Berglund registered a goal and an assist to finish with two points across the two games.
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
The Miami (OH) RedHawks paid a visit to the Mill City for the River Hawks' first two-game series of the year. The home team took a tumble night one, falling 3-1. UMass Lowell rebounded in epic fashion on Saturday night with a 4-2 come-from-behind thriller at the Tsongas Center led by seniors
Carl Berglund and
Brian Chambers. Graduate student Filip Fornåå Svensson tallied his first two points as a River Hawk with a goal and an assist in Saturday night's win. Senior
Marek Korencik snagged his first goal on home ice as well, netting the second-period equalizer that sparked UMass Lowell's comeback efforts. Graduate transfer
Gustavs Davis Grigals continued to impress with his acrobatics in net, stopping 22 shots to jump to a 2-0-0 mark as a River Hawk.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks fourth in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 112 of their 180 faceoffs taken for a .622 faceoff win percentage through their first three games. Leading the charge for UMass Lowell, senior
Jake Stella, a transfer from AIC, has .566 faceoff win percentage. His 30 wins ties him for 20th in the nation alongside RIT's Andrew Petrucci. Not far behind Stella, senior
Brian Chambers is tied for 28th in the NCAA with 28 wins.
HOMECOMING
Only one currently rostered River Hawk hails from
Michigan. Graduate student
Jon McDonald calls The Great Lakes State home. Originally from Livonia, Mich., McDonald's hometown sits just outside of Detroit and is roughly 1.5 hours from the Munn.
UMASS LOWELL vs the BIG TEN
The River Hawks have seen quite a bit of success against the Big Ten throughout program history, registering a 9-2-2 all-time mark against B1G foes. Last season, UMass Lowell racked up a 1-0-1 record against the conference last season after a two-game homestand against
Michigan State.
IN THE POLLS
After a 1-1-0 weekend against Miami (OH), the River Hawks dropped just one spot in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls to 16 after being ranked 15 in both last week.
A WIN TODAY...
A win today would move the River Hawks to a 3-1-0 record on the season and an 8-5-1 record all-time against the Spartans. Head Coach
Norm Bazin would also move to a 4-0-1 career mark against Michigan State. This would also extend both UMass Lowellís active win streak and win streak against Michigan State to two games
UP NEXT
The River Hawks open conference action next Saturday, Oct. 22, on the road against reigning Hockey East Regular Season Champions and current No. 7/8 Northeastern. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Matthews Arena.
