LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell hockey team fell just short to Connecticut, 2-1, in overtime on Friday night in its home opener at the Tsongas Center.
 
The team drew 6,560 fans for the first game back at the Tsongas, and it was also the Hockey East opener for both squads. UConn took advantage of a late game-tying goal to send the game to overtime. Sophomore Mitchell Becker (Rogers, Minn.) scored the lone River Hawk goal in the first period, as junior Stefan Owens (Midlothian, Va.) added the assist. Junior Luke Pavicich (Clarence Center, N.Y.) got the nod between the pipes for the River Hawks, making a season-high 40 saves.     
 
The first period was a lot of both teams battling back and forth with a handful of early scoring chances, but both goalies stopped anything that crossed their path. The River Hawks eventually drew the first blood and got on the board with Becker's goal at the 13:54 mark of the period. The puck came loose at the boards off a UConn stick, and Owens picked it up and fed Becker with a clean pass in front of the net that Becker whizzed past the Huskies' goalie Arsenii Sergeev.
 
The River Hawks rode some momentum into the second, picking up a huge scoring opportunity when junior Isac Jonsson (Ängelholm, Sweden) one-timed a pass directly in front of the goalie but was denied before a scrum formed in the crease. Pavicich had a great second period for the River Hawks, making 13 saves and not allowing UConn any rebound opportunities. He continued providing crucial saves as the period went on, especially during a Huskies 5-on-3 with just under 10 minutes remaining, making for a quiet period for both squads in terms of goal-scoring. Sergeev finished off the period with a stop on a potential Owen Cole scoring opportunity, leading to the third period with the score still 1-0 in favor of the River Hawks.
 
The third period was a lot of the same back-and-forth action, with each team creating scattered scoring chances throughout. Pavicich continued to keep the Huskies at bay, with 14 more third period saves, including an impressive sliding glove save with 11:35 remaining in the game to deny a, what seemed to be, open-goal opportunity for the Huskies. With 90 seconds remaining, the River Hawks were called for a tripping penalty, leading to the UConn power play that produced the game-tying goal from Chase Bradley with 1:15 remaining. The third ended with both teams knotted up at one, sending it to overtime. During the 3-on-3 overtime period, once again both teams had great opportunities, but it was UConn who capitalized at the 3:40 mark with an Andrew Lucas goal, ending the game with a 2-1 score in favor of the Huskies.
 
The River Hawks will now travel to the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut tomorrow, Saturday, October 28 for game two of the two-game, home-and-home set with the Huskies. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.