DURHAM, N.H.—The No. 13 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (16-8-3, 12-7-1 Hockey East) suffered a 3-0 setback against New Hampshire (13-14-1, 7-11-1 HEA) Sunday afternoon at the Whittemore Center.
"We were outplayed today. It showed on the scoreboard," commented Head Coach
Norm Bazin. "We came out with a first period that wasn't what we were looking for, and that set the tone for the rest of the game. I thought we looked a little better in the third period, but it was too little, too late."
Although the River Hawks were held scoreless in the matinee matchup, 16 River Hawks took their chance with freshman
Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.) pacing the crew with five shots on target.
Freshman
Isac Jonsson (Ängelholm, Sweden) led the blueline efforts in front of the net, blocking three shots from the Wildcats. Getting his sixth call up this season, sophomore
Henry Welsch (Lakeville, Minn.) stopped a season-best 33 shots, just one save short of matching his career best.
Both squads held close through the first frame, with UNH taking a slight 12-11 edge in shots on goal at the end of 20 minutes. The River Hawks earned several quality chances, including three on the power play.
UNH came out in the second period hot on offense, consistently pressuring the UMass Lowell defense for the better part of the period. With 11:36 on the clock, UNH struck off a quick flick from Liam Devlin to give the home squad the 1-0 advantage. The Wildcats kept the momentum moving forward, netting their second of the day off a strike from Nick Cafarelli to send the River Hawks into the final frame down, 2-0.
Hoping to close in on the Wildcats, UMass Lowell upped their offense in the third, outshooting UNH, 14-9. With time winding down, the River Hawks pulled Welsch in favor of the extra skater as a final effort to make up time. An unlucky empty netter from UNH's Tyler Ward ultimately squelched the UMass Lowell comeback and dealt the River Hawks the 3-0 loss.
The team looks ahead to a home-and-home series with Providence next weekend, Feb. 18-19. Puck drop for Friday's contest at the Tsongas Center is set for 7:15 p.m., while Saturday's is slated for 7:00 p.m.
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To purchase single game tickets, learn about group ticketing opportunities or unlock deep discounts with season tickets, visit www.GoRiverHawks.com/tickets or contact Tyler Kenney at Tyler_Kenney@uml.edu / (978) 934-5739
