Friday v. Massachusetts: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
 
BELFAST, Northern Ireland—The No. 14/13 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (8-5-0, 5-3-0 Hockey East) returns to Belfast for the 2022 Friendship Four Tournament at the SSE Arena this weekend, Nov. 25-26. The River Hawks open the two-day tournament against No. 17/17 Massachusetts (6-5-1, 2-5-0 HEA) on Friday at 7 p.m. They'll go on to play the winner of the No. 4/4 Quinnipiac Bobcats (9-1-2, 6-0-0 ECAC) and Dartmouth (1-4-1, 1-3-1 ECAC) on Saturday.
 
If they win Friday, the team plays for the Belpot on Saturday at 7 p.m. If they drop the opening round battle, the River Hawks will play the earlier game at 3 p.m. All four contests will be broadcast on NESN+.
 
BACK FOR THE BELPOT
The River Hawks are back in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the first time since 2015 for the 2022 iteration of the Friendship Four at the SSE Arena. The two-day tournament brings together two ECAC and two Hockey East programs to compete for the Belpot. This year, UMass Lowell is joined by Hockey East opponent and Kennedy Cup foe UMass as well as Quinnipiac and Dartmouth of the ECAC. Although none of the currently rostered River Hawks made the original journey abroad in 2015, Head Coach Norm Bazin and Director of Hockey Operations Dylan Zink return to the SSE Arena for the second time. In 2015, the River Hawks rang the inaugural Belpot after back-to-back overtime thrillers against Northeastern and Brown. After taking down the Huskies in a 3-2 OT matchup, UMass Lowell returned on Saturday to take Brown to a 5-5 deadlock through both regulation and overtime, before winning the tournament in a shootout. C.J. Smith scored the equalizing extra-attacker goal with just 39 seconds left on the clock, while Dylan Zink tallied the only goal in the shootout to claim the victory for the River Hawks.
 
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell heads into their weekend abroad after a tough three-game slate just last week. The River Hawks opened the week with a 3-2 loss to Boston College, before splitting the series with No. 7/8 UConn. Senior Carl Berglund remains the River Hawks' leading scorer with 11 points off a team-best six goals as well as five assists. Though Berglund sits atop the leaderboard, the scoring race is on for UMass Lowell. Brian Chambers ranks just behind Berglund with nine points this season from a pair of lamplighters and a team-high seven assists. Three River Hawks – Owen Cole, Zach Kaiser, and Scout Truman – own eight points apiece. Kaiser and Truman are currently tied for second on the team with five goals, while Cole sits in second with six assists this season. Just starting his sophomore campaign, Cole is just one goal and one assist away from setting a new career high. A freshman, Truman has been an explosive piece of the River Hawks' offense so far, leading all newcomers with his five goals and three assists. Meanwhile, Kaiser's stayed hot as of late for the River Hawks, averaging a point a game across the last five tilts. On defense, UMass Lowell's gritty net front battles have been critical in keeping their opponents to just 25 tallies this season. Junior Brehdan Engum has been leading the charge with a team-high 24 blocks thus far. The defenseman has also contributed two helpers in his 13 games. Jon McDonald continues to be a standout member of the UMass Lowell blueline with 19 blocks and seven points from two goals and five assists. A two-way defenseman, Ben Meehan has emerged as a weapon on both ends of the ice for UMass Lowell. With 16 blocks, Meehan's gritty physical play has only bolstered UMass Lowell's defensive style this season. On the scoring end, Meehan has put up two goals this year to lead all River Hawks' defensemen, and he sits in second by just one point to Jon McDonald in overall points with six. Between the pipes, Grigals and Welsch have both seen action as of late. Grigals picked up a major overtime 3-2 win against UConn on Friday to improve to a 3-2-0 mark, while Welsch owns a 5-3-0 record after facing two tough opponents in BC and UConn. The duo both rank in the top 10 of all Hockey East goaltenders in both save percentage and GAA. Welsch ranks fourth in both categories with a 1.76 GAA and a .935 save percentage, while Grigals sits sixth in GAA with a 1.97 average and fifth with a .931 save rate. On the national stage, Welsch ranks seventh in GAA and fifth in save percentage, while Grigals ranks 14th and eighth, respectively.
 
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
The River Hawks face off against a familiar foe in the Minutemen to open this year's Friendship Four. After a hot start to the season with a sweep over then No. 1 Denver, UMass hit several roadblocks once they crossed into conference play. Although the Minutemen squeezed out a 4-2 victory over New Hampshire last weekend, UMass has gone 1-4-0 in their last five contests and stayed even at 5-5-0 in their last ten. Most recently, UMass suffered back-to-back sweeps at the hands of nationally ranked opponents Providence and Boston University. Kenny Connors and Reed Lebster stand as UMass' current leading scorers with five goals and eight assists each for a team-high 13 points. The Minutemen will likely look to two-way defensemen Ryan Ufko and Scott Morrow to log major ice time this weekend. With three and four goals, respectively, Ufko and Morrow have been steady contributors to UMass this year. On the defensive side, Ufko leads with 20 blocks in his 12 appearances, while Morrow and Elliott McDermott sit tied for second on the squad with 17 apiece. Between the pipes, Luke Pavicich and Cole Brady have seen action in nine games this season, with Pavicich getting the start eight times and Brady four. Pavicich owns a 3-1-0 mark this season as well as a 2.57 GAA and a .923 save percentage, while Brady holds onto a 2.95 GAA and a .919 save percentage in his 224 minutes.
 
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
The Bobcats traveled across the pond with their eyes on extending their seven-game win streak with their first-round matchup against ECAC foe Dartmouth. Boasting a 9-1-2 mark, the Bobcats' only loss came at the hands of Maine in a 4-0 shutout. A top-five program, the Bobcats will look to Collin Graf and Jacob Quillan to keep their high-scoring season rolling after netting six goals so far this year. Graf also sits tied for first in helpers with seven alongside Ethan de Jong and Sam Lipkin. On defense, the Bobcats have been excelling at shutting down the opposition's offense. Tied for fifth in the nation with the lowest GA with just 22, the Bobcats' defense has been led by major net front efforts by senior Jayden Lee with 20 blocks. Yaniv Perets continues his prolific career as Quinnipiac's primary netminder. In his 12 starts, Perets owns a 9-1-3 mark, three shutouts, a 1.82 GAA, and a .924 save percentage. The sophomore ranks tenth in the nation in both GAA and save percentage moving into the two-game tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
With just six games under their belt, Dartmouth hopes to chip away at their 1-4-1 start with an early tournament upset in Friday's tilt against Quinnipiac. The Big Green's lone win—a 6-0 shutout of Yale—came in the early goings of the delayed Ivy League season start. Picking up one shootout win against Brown the following day, the Big Green have struggled to spark their offense since and have been on a two-game skid. Dartmouth has been outscored 21-15 thus far this season and has allowed an average of 3.5 goals per game to their 2.5 goals scored a game. Luke Haymes and Tanner Palocsik are the Big Green's leading point scorers across their six games. Haymes leads the team with five goals, while Palocsik has been a helper machine with a team-best five. Defenseman Joey Musa has blocked a team-best eight shots in his six games. In goal, Cooper Black has gotten the call in six games and has played the majority of Dartmouth's minutes this year. The freshman owns a 2.28 GAA, a .918 save percentage, one shutout, and a 1-3-1 mark to start his collegiate career.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS SHOWDOWN
Friday night's game between the River Hawks and the Minutemen will prove to be a special teams showdown on the ice. UMass enters the weekend with the nation's best power play percentage (.419), while the River Hawks own the best PK unit in Hockey East and the nation's fifth-most successful crew with a success rate of .875.
 
FACING OFF AT THE FACEOFF
Should the River Hawks and the Bobcats meet in Saturday's second round of games, it will be an absolute battle at the dot. The two programs sit neck-and-neck in the national rankings when it comes to success at the faceoff dot. Quinnipiac holds the slightest edge over UMass Lowell with a 55.4% win rate to sit fifth in the country. Meanwhile, the River Hawks sit hot on their tails in sixth with a 55.3% success rate.
 
SCORING DEFENSE
The River Hawks' have been dialed in on defense this season, posting the nation's fifth-best scoring defense. In 13 games, UMass Lowell has kept their opponents to just 25 goals this season for a 1.92 average. Joining the River Hawks amongst the nation's best, Quinnipiac sits just ahead of them in fourth with 22 GA in 12 games for a 1.83 average.
 
A WIN ON FRIDAY...
If the River Hawks win on Friday against UMass, they'll advance to the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. If UMass Lowell gets tripped up by the Minutemen, they'll take the ice on Saturday at 3 p.m. They will face off against the winner of Friday's matinee matchup between No. 4 Quinnipiac and Dartmouth.

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