BELFAST, Northern Ireland—The No. 14/13 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (8-6-0, 5-4-0 Hockey East) dropped a tight 3-2 decision to the No. 17/17 Massachusetts Minutemen (7-5-1, 3-5-0 HEA) Friday night at SSE Arena in the opening round of the 2022 Friendship Four.
 
Freshman TJ Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.) tallied the lone River Hawks goal of the evening for his first collegiate goal. Freshman Jack Collins (Canton, N.Y.) also picked up his first point off the primary assist, while graduate student Jon McDonald (Livonia, Mich.) notched a helper. Between the pipes, graduate student Gustavs Davis Grigals (Riga, Latvia) suffered the loss despite making 25 stops. The River Hawks' penalty kill unit remained flawless in the tilt, shutting down all four Minutemen power play opportunities to improve to a .882 success rate this season.

"Last night was a good hockey game. Space was tough to come by in the first two periods. It was a physical hockey game. Both teams had their chances. We hit a post with four minutes to go, but it didn't go in. That's hockey sometimes, a game of inches," remarked Head Coach Norm Bazin. "We had the looks we were looking for at the end but it just didn't go in. If we play like we did last night, you will earn points most nights. I was happy with several areas like our compete, our penalty kill and our goaltending. We will look to improve for our afternoon game with the quick turnaround."
 
The opening frame was marked by decidedly defensive play on both ends of the ice. The River Hawks registered considerable minutes in the offensive zone hunting for first blood. Sophomore Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.) and freshman Scout Truman (Lethbridge, Ontario) took several chances on net, but none could sneak through a gap to spark a scoring run. Just about eight minutes into the first, the Minutemen found their way up ice and challenged Grigals to no avail. Despite back-to-back power play opportunities for UMass Lowell, both teams headed into the first break scoreless, with the River Hawks maintaining an 8-7 edge in shots on goal.
 
Massachusetts found an opening 2:11 into the second period. Minutemen defender Ryan Ufko ripped one hard from the point, only to be knocked down by his teammate Cole O'Hara. The puck bounced awkwardly off the ice to the stick of Kenny Connors, who sent it past an unexpecting Grigals for the early advantage. The Minutemen nearly found twine again moments later, but Grigals gloved down the attempt with an impressive reaching grab to keep UMass to just a 1-0 lead heading into the third.
 
Just as UMass Lowell started their push up ice, an unlucky forced turnover in the neutral zone by UMass' Taylor Makar quickly forced the River Hawks back on defense. Makar went behind the net and tried to stuff one under the right pad of Grigals, but the netminder kicked away the initial attempt. Connors followed up on the loose puck, however, to knock in another to push the River Hawks to a 2-0 deficit.
 
Schweighardt brought life to UMass Lowell's offense minutes later with his first lamp lighter as a River Hawk. Swiftly traveling down the ice, McDonald held onto the puck as he waited for support up high. With his man advancing, the veteran dropped a pass back to Collins, who took a firm crack at UMass netminder Luke Pavicich. The puck rebounded hard off Pavicich and up for Schweighardt to take his chance. The defenseman waited until the right moment to easily knock in the shot to slice the Minutemen's lead down to 2-1 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Sophomore Gabe Blanchard (East Aurora, N.Y.) nearly notched the equalizer with five minutes left on the clock with a laser beam from the point but was denied by the pipe. With time winding down, the River Hawks pulled Grigals in favor of the extra attacker but ultimately came up just short against Massachusetts.
 
The River Hawks close out their week in Belfast tomorrow at 3 p.m. IST (10 a.m. EST) against Dartmouth. The tilt is set to air on NESN+.