Friday v. LIU: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
 
LOWELL, Mass.—In its final non-conference matchup of the season, the No. 16 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (17-9-3, 13-8-1 Hockey East) welcomes Long Island (9-17-3) to the Tsongas Center on Friday, Feb. 25, at 7:15 p.m.

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell enters tonight's game with an 17-9-3 / 13-8-1 record after splitting a pair of games last weekend against Providence.  Each team won at home by a 3-2 score.  The River Hawks are 8-6-0 on the road and 9-3-3 on the familiar ice of the Tsongas Center.  UMass Lowell currently sits in the number 16 slot in the DCU/USCHO Poll and is receiving votes in the USA Hockey Magazine Poll.  It is the team's 15th week in the Top 20.  UMass Lowell is in a first-place tie with Massachusetts atop Hockey East.  The pair holds a two-point lead over UConn and Merrimack.  They are the only team in the conference without a league game this weekend.  Hockey East Coaches, in their pre-season poll, placed the River Hawks seventh in the conference.  Andre Lee leads the team in goals with a thirteen. Lee and Carl Berglund top the points list with twenty-one.  Berglund's sixteen-assists lead the club.  Allowing 2.14-goals per game the River Hawks are the second stingiest team in the conference.  Goaltenders Henry Welsch and Owen Savory split time in goal evenly a year ago, but this year Savory has shouldered the heavier workload.  Savory has gotten the call twenty-three times and has been among the nation's best.  He's got a 1.91 GAA and a .925 save percentage.  The senior has four shutouts.  Welsch has started six times with one shutout and a 2.66 GAA and a .893 save percentage.
 
SCOUTING THE SHARKS
Long Island University is in its second year of Division I hockey and playing as an independent brings a 9-17-3 record into tonight's contest.  Only four of the team's wins have come against Division I opponents.  Miami, Brown, Union and Alaska have been the victims.  LIU is 0-4-1 against Hockey East teams.  The tie came against UMass Lowell.  The Sharks are 5-3-1 at home and 4-14-2 on the road.  Twenty-two players have scored goals players have scored goals, four have six or more.  Billy Jerry, a Rensselaer, leads the team with a dozen goals and 24-points.  He had a four-goal game against Brown.  Tyler Welsh is second on the points list with 19, including seven-goals.  Three goaltenders have seen action this season.  Kris Carlson and Brandon Perrone, both transfers from Alaska Anchorage, and BU Transfer Vincent Purpura have all picked up victories in nets.  Carslon has started 15 of the team's 29 games has a 3.31 goals against average and an .887 save percentage.  Purpura has made 12 starts and shows 3.46 and .884 numbers.  Perrone's numbers come in at 3.26 and .860.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. LIU
This is L I U's second year of Division I hockey and the two teams have met only once before.  That was earlier this season when the pair played to a 3-3 tie.  Other UMass Lowell teams have faced LIU in various sports with various levels of success.  Overall UMass Lowell teams hold a 13-6-0 edge.
 
EARLIER THIS YEAR
UMass Lowell overcame a 2-0 deficit, but was unable to hold onto a one-goal lead late and settled for a 3-3 tie against L I U at the Tsongas Center back on November 3rd.  Ryan Brushett and Connor Sodergren brought the team even with second period goals.  Lucas Condotta gave the River Hawks a 3rd period lead, but L I U's Jack Quinn tied the game up with less than two-minutes left in regulation.  Each team had a pair of shots in overtime, but neither team scored.  PJ Marrocco and Spencer Cox had goals for the Visitors.
 
SCORING AGAINST LIU
UMass Lowell and LIU have played just once and as such all of the coring comes from that one game.  Connor Sodergren, Ryan Brushett and Lucas Condotta each have a goal, but the points leader is Brian Chambers who picked up two assists in that game.  Only Henry Welsch, among the goalies, has faced LIU.  He allowed three-goals on 20-shots in 65-minutes of hockey.
 
RESCHEDULED GAMES
UMass Lowell and Long Island University were to have played a pair of games October 15-16.  That did not happen when Long Island University was sidelined by COVID-19 protocols.  The first of those two games was made up when the teams met on November 3rd.  Tonight's contest is the make up for the October 16 game.
 
A FAMILY CONNECTION
The Riley name is no stranger to the profession of coaching hockey and no stranger to UMass Lowell.  Brett Riley is a third generation College Hockey Coach and a relative of the man considered the Godfather of UMass Lowell hockey, Billy Riley.  Brett Riley's father Rob served as head coach at Army West Point for 19 years and is currently an amateur scout for the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Jack Riley, Brett's grandfather, also coached at Army for more than 35 years after coaching the United States to the gold medal at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics.  Billy Riley is Jack's nephew.  He is Brett's Great Uncle.
 
FAMILY FEUD
This is not the first time that UMass Lowell has faced a Riley coached team.  The River Hawks are 20-6-1 all-time against the Rileys.  The club held an 8-5-0 record against Brett's grandfather Jack who coached at Army and a 12-1-0 record against Brett's uncle Rob who coached at Babson and Army.  UML's own Billy Riley was 10-6-0 against family members.
 
NEW PROGRAMS
When UMass Lowell has played a "new" program, one in its first or second year of Division I hockey, it is 4-0-1.  The latest such game was November 3rd when UMass Lowell hosted L I U.  That game ended as a 3-3 tie.  The River Hawks defeated Penn State 4-0 and 3-2 during the 2012-13 season and then beat Arizona State three years later by the scores 4-1 and 8-1.  Although not a "Brand New" program UMass Lowell defeated St. Cloud State, 7-4, in the Huskies first year of Division I play.
 
AT LAST WE HAVE MET
LIU is the 58th current Division I hockey team that UMass Lowell has played a game against.  The River Hawks have a slight edge in the games played the first time the combatants have met.  UML holds a 28-26-4 advantage in first meeting games.  The only current Division I programs that the River Hawks have never faced are Mercyhurst, Bemidji State and St. Thomas.  The Tommies are in their first season of Division I competition.
 
Vs. INDEPENDENTS
UMass Lowell is 1-1-1 this season against teams that do not represent a conference.  UML split a series with Arizona State and battled LIU to a tie.  The team is 5-2-1 all-time against Independents during the Bazin Era and 4-15-3 all-time.  That includes a 35-14-3 record since moving to Division I. 
 
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM
UMass Lowell has more than held its own in non-conference play over the last ten-plus years.  UMass Lowell is 96-41-9 (.688) in such games since the 2011-12 season.  Removing the non-conference games against Hockey East schools the River Hawks show a 67-27-8 (.696) record.    The club, after the win against Dartmouth, is 4-1-2 in non-conference games this season.
 
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
UMass Lowell freshman defenseman Isac Jonsson was named the Hockey East Defender of the week Monday, February 21 for the games the previous weekend.  Jonsson dished out two assists and finished the weekend with a plus-two rating and two blocks. He currently leads the team with a plus-11 rating and is third on the team in total blocks with 24, which is good for sixth in the conference in blocks by a freshman.  Jonsson is the third River Hawk to earn "Defender" honors this season.  Brehdan Engum and Ben Meehan were both honored earlier in the season.
 
ON THE LIST
UMass Lowell senior goalie Owen Savory has been named a semifinalist for the 2022 Mike Richter Award.  That was announced by the Hockey Commissioners Association earlier this week.  The Richter Award annually honors the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey. Former River Hawk Connor Hellebuyck won the inaugural Richter Award in 2014.  Savory is one of four Hockey East goalies to be included among the eleven semifinalists.  Savory ranks sixth in GAA, 1.91, and is tied for ninth overall in save percentage, .925. His four shutouts also rank him sixth across all Division I goaltenders.  The winner of the 2022 Mike Richter Award will be announced in April during the 2022 Frozen Four.
 
UMASS LOWELL AND THE WEATHER
This probably means nothing, but with the weather forecast calling for up to a foot of snow we thought we should check.  UMass Lowell has a winning record when playing a hockey game during a snow storm that drops at least a foot of snow on the city of Lowell.  The River Hawks have played hockey on a "snow day" nineteen times since the 1968-69 season and hold a slight edge, 9-8-2.  The last time UMass Lowell played on a snow day was February 14, 2015.  The city of Lowell got hit by 14" of snow and the River Hawks defeated UMass 7-1.  UMass was also the opponent on January 22, 2005, when the region was hit by 19" of snow and UMass Lowell was a 6-1 winner at Amherst.  Massachusetts has been the opponent for three snow storm games, but Maine tops the list; they've been the opposition five times and own a 4-1-0 edge.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
UMass Lowell and Providence split a pair of 3-2 games last weekend, each team winning on home ice.  Friday night the River Hawks got goals from three different forwards and 28 saves from goalie Owen Savory en route to a 3-2 win at the Tsongas Center.  Lucas Condotta and Carl Berglund gave the River Hawks an early 2-0 lead, but Providence tied it on second period goals by Nick Poisson and Michael Citara.  Matt Crasa's tenth goal of the year coming in the middle of the third period goal proved to be the difference.  Goalie Owen Savory knocked aside 28 of Providence's 30 shots to earn the win.  Saturday night in Providence the Friars scored twice in the first period and once in the middle frame to build a 3-0 lead.  UMass Lowell got goals from Reid Stefanson and Brehdan Engum to make it a one-goal games but could not get the equalizer.
 
A TSONGAS WIN
UMass Lowell earned a home win against Providence last Friday night.  It had been a while.  The visitors came into the Friday contest with a five-game winning streak at the Tsongas Center.  The River Hawk win was their first against Providence on home ice since January 23, 2016, when they topped the Friars, 3-1. 
 

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