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Saturday at Boston University: Live Stats |
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LOWELL, Mass.— The UMass Lowell hockey team (4-2-0, 1-0-0 Hockey East) looks ahead to its first conference home-and-home series with a pair of games against No. 9 Boston University (3-2-0, 1-1-0 HEA) this weekend, Oct. 28-29. The River Hawks kick off the weekend on home ice on Friday at 7:15 p.m. before traveling to Agganis on Saturday at 7 p.m. to wrap up the two-game slate. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and available internationally on the Hockey East Stretch Internet Portal.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
The No. 18 River Hawks are looking to extend their hot streak this weekend with a home-and-home series against the No. 9 Boston University Terriers. Coming off a 3-2 win over then No. 12/14 Northeastern on Saturday, UMass Lowell owns a 4-2-1 (1-0-0 Hockey East mark) and a two-game winning streak going into its first conference doubleheader. Senior
Carl Berglund leads the team in scoring with four goals in his six appearances. The Swedish-born forward also ranks second on the River Hawks with four assists for a team-best eight points. Senior
Brian Chambers sits atop the assist leaderboard for UMass Lowell with five in his five games played. Beyond Berglund's four tallies this year, the River Hawks have been sharing the wealth on offense with 11 other River Hawks having at least one goal to their credit this season. Four of UMass Lowell's goal scorers have come off the blueline to help on attack. Sophomore
Isac Jonsson, junior
Ben Meehan, senior
Marek Korencik and graduate student
Jon McDonald all have found the back of the net in the early goings of the season. Two freshmen –
Scout Truman and
Owen Fowler – have netted their first collegiate goals in the first six games. Truman earned his first goal as a River Hawk in the first game of the team's two-game series at Michigan State. Last weekend, Fowler scored his first on a shorthanded chance to also give UMass Lowell its first shorthanded goal of the year.
On defense, sophomore
Brehdan Engum continues to lead the charge for the River Hawks defense on blocks with a team-best 13 to his credit in six games. Just behind Engum, McDonald has 10 blocked shots as well as a goal and three assists. Sophomore
Isac Jonsson ranks not far behind the two veteran blueliners with seven blocks to his credit and a team-best +6 rating. Junior
Henry Welsch and graduate student
Gustavs Davis Grigals have seen three games apiece between the pipes so far, with each netminder holding a 2-1-0 mark. Welsch has emerged as the likely Friday night starter after posting back-to-back wins for the River Hawks. Last weekend, the Minnesota native made 26 stops against the then No. 12/14 Huskies to help the River Hawks pick up an important three points to start the conference schedule. Heading into the weekend, Welsch owns a 2.34 GAA and a .928 save percentage. He is also the only River Hawk goaltender with any game time against the Terriers. Although Welsch has only suited up once against BU in his career, he is undefeated with a 1-0-0 record, 16 saves and a .941 save percentage. Meanwhile, Grigals heads into the series with the Terriers with a 2.02 GAA and a .921 save percentage after claiming wins against St. Lawrence and Miami (OH).
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
The No. 9 Boston University Terriers (3-2-0, 1-1-0 HEA) visit the Tsongas Center Friday night coming off a 1-0-1 weekend against UConn. After an OT loss on Friday night at Agganis Arena, the Terriers returned to home ice to pick up a 5-2 win over the ranked Huskies to claim the split. Senior Matt Brown has been a major scoring threat for Boston University with points in four of the Terriers' five games this year and goals in three. Last weekend, Brown posted a four-point night against UConn with two goals and two assists to lead BU to the 5-2 decision. The forward leads BU with nine points off a team-best four goals and five assists. Similar to the River Hawks, the Terriers have been generous with their early season scoring, with 14 goal scorers so far this season.
On defense, the Terriers look to Case McCarthy and Cade Webber, who rank first and second on the team in blocked shots with 16 and 14, respectively. Freshman Lane Hutson is another player to watch in the conference clash. The defender ranks second on the team in points with one goal and a team-best five assists alongside forward Brown and is tied for fourth on the team in blocks with eight.
The Terriers have been relying on Vinny Duplessis over their last four games. The junior came in for Drew Commesso in the team's 9-2 loss to Michigan on the road and has established himself as a reliable presence in net. Likely to get the nod on Friday, Duplessis has seen 104 shots, making 93 saves and allowing 11 goals. He heads into the weekend with a .894 save percentage, a 2-1-0 mark and a 3.06 GAA.
SCORING AGAINST THE TERRIERS
Seven currently rostered River Hawks have made their way onto the scoresheet against the Terriers during their careers.
Nik Armstrong-Kingkade,
Carl Berglund,
Ryan Brushett,
Brian Chambers,
Zach Kaiser,
Jon McDonald and
Ben Meehan have all picked up points against Boston University. With a team-best 11 appearances against the Terriers, McDonald also happens to lead in points against the Hockey East foe with four points off four assists. Meehan sits behind McDonald as the only other River Hawk with multiple points against BU. Heading into the weekend, Meehan has scored one goal and an assist in his four games against BU for two career points. He is also one of just two currently rostered skaters to have goals against the Terriers. The only other River Hawk to have one against BU is senior
Brian Chambers.
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
The River Hawks opened conference action last weekend on the road with a one-off tilt against the then No. 12/14 Northeastern Huskies.
Ben Meehan,
Owen Fowler and
Zach Kaiser all lit the lamp in the team's Hockey East opener. Meehan's goal marked the first of the year for the junior defenseman, while Fowler's shorthanded shot earned the Massachusetts native his first as a River Hawk and the first of the year for the UMass Lowell PK unit. In goal,
Henry Welsch extended his win streak to two straight with 26 stops in the game. The junior from Minnesota now owns a 2-1-0 career record against the Huskies. In the waning seconds of the game, Welsch made a series of acrobatic saves that ultimately secured the three points for UMass Lowell.
AT THE DOT
The River Hawks have been a force at the dot in the first six games. The team currently sits third overall in the conference with a 56.4% faceoff win percentage and seventh in the nation. Senior
Brian Chambers currently ranks ninth in the conference and 34th in the nation with a 64.1% success rate at the dot, picking up 50 wins in his 78 attempts.
IN THE POLLS
The team's 3-2 win last weekend over then No. 12/14 Northeastern bumped the team back up in both the DCU/USCHO and USA Today/USA Magazine polls to sit in 18th across the board.
A WIN THIS WEEKEND...
If the River Hawks sweep the series with Boston University, the team will move to an all-time mark of 37-78-12. With a split, UMass Lowell's record against the Terriers would shift to 36-79-12.
FUN TIMES AT AGGANIS
UMass Lowell is the last team to enjoy a regulation victory on the ice at Agganis. A year to the day on Oct. 29, 2021, the River Hawks headed to Boston and picked up the 3-0 shutout over the Terriers.
THE THREE-SHOLD
Three seems to be the magic number for UMass Lowell. When the River Hawks score three or more goals in a single game, they own an all-time record of 201-30-13.
UP NEXT
The River Hawks host Hockey East opponents Vermont next weekend, Nov. 4-5, for a pair of games at the Tsongas Center. Start times for the weekend series are set for 7:15 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
