Friday v Providence: Live Stats | Watch | Watch (Int'l) | Listen
Saturday at Providence: Live Stats | Watch | Watch (Int'l) | Listen
 
LOWELL, Mass.— After an 0-2-0 record last weekend against Maine, the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (7-14-2, 3-8-1 Hockey East) looks to bounce back in a home-and-home series with Providence (12-7-2, 5-4-2 Hockey East). Game one will be on Friday, January 26 at 7:15 p.m. at the Tsongas Center, while Saturday's game two at Providence will start at 7:00 p.m.

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell enters the series with the Friars coming off two losses to Maine on Friday and Saturday, January 19 and 20. In game one, the squads were tied 1-1 after two periods of play, before Maine pulled away in the third for the 5-3 win. In game two, the River Hawks once again started strong, scoring first as the game entered the first intermission with a 1-1 score. Maine scored four goals in the second and two in the third to pick up the 7-2 victory.
 
Owen Cole (8g, 7a) and Scout Truman (5g, 10a) sit atop the team in points with 15 each, while sophomore Nick Rhéaume (9g, 4a) leads the team in goals and is just behind them with 13 points. Defensively, TJ Schweighardt and Brehdan Engum are the top two in blocked shots with 34 and 27, respectively, Matt Crasa's +4 rating leads the squad. Mitchell Becker is second with a +3 rating, while three players are tied with a +2 rating.
 
After losing some marquee names from the 2022-23 lineup, the River Hawks bolstered their stacked roster of 20 returners with three experienced transfers and eight talented freshmen eager to contribute. They also return two of their top 5 point-getters from a year ago in defensemen Jonsson and Meehan, while Henry Welsch returns between the pipes and has a 4-7-2 record with a GAA of 2.19 and SV% of .920. His counterpart, junior transfer Luke Pavicich has started 11 games, posting a 3-7-0 record, 3.66 GAA and .878 SV%. The team was picked to finish seventh in the Hockey East Preseason Poll with 62 points.
 
SCOUTING THE FRIARS
Providence enters the series with the River Hawks after a two-game home split against Alaska Anchorage on January 19 and 20. The Friars won 2-0 in game one, before dropping game two by a score of 4-0. They opened the season with an 8-1-2 record, before getting swept by Massachusetts and splitting a series with Arizona State. Since then, they have gone 4-3-0, giving them a 12-7-2 record heading into this weekend.

Nick Poisson (6g, 10a) leads the team with 16 points, while Chase Yoder (8g, 6a) and Jaroslav Chmelar (5g, 9a) are just behind him with 14 points apiece. Chmelar ranks first on the team with a +8 rating, while Poisson boasts a +7 for the team's second-best. Goaltender Philip Svedebäck has started all 21 games for the Friars, boasting a 12-7-2 record. He has a GAA of 2.25 with a SV% of .900, along with three shutouts.
 
Coming off a 16-14-7 season last year and a loss to BU in the Hockey East Semifinals, the Friars are succeeding in their efforts to improve in 2023-24, needing just four wins to tie last year's win total.
 
UMASS LOWELL HISTORY VS. PROVIDENCE
The River Hawks have seen a lot of Providence throughout program history, registering a 51-64-11 all-time mark against the Friars. The last time the two teams met was on February 18, 2023, when the River Hawks collected a 2-1 victory. The River Hawks fell to the Friars, 3-2, in overtime the night before, making it a series split.

CHASING 300
Head Coach Norm Bazin is just one win away from his 300th overall as a collegiate head coach. He currently has 299 wins, dating back to the 2008-09 season, when he became a head coach at Hamilton College. If Bazin and the River Hawks can either split or sweep the weekend, Bazin will reach the impressive accolade.

STREAKIN'
Owen Cole has been on fire as of late, and has now scored a goal in five straight games. He is the first River Hawks since since Ryan Dmowski in 2019 to pot goals in five consecutive games and will look to make it six this Friday. Sophomore Nick Rhéaume has also been on a roll recently, scoring in three of his last four games and holding a team-leading nine goals on the year.   

AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 20th in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 725 of their 1,400 faceoffs taken for a .518 faceoff win percentage through their first 23 games. Leading the charge for UMass Lowell is Sophomore Dillan Bentley, who has a faceoff win percentage of .560 with a 173 -136 record. Not far behind is freshman Jak Vaarwerk, who has collected a .531 faceoff win percentage, going 156-138. 

HOMETOWN TIES
Zero River Hawks hail from the state of Rhode Island, while three Providence skaters are from Massachusetts, in John Driscoll (Milton, Mass.), Riley Duran (Woburn, Mass.) and Craig Needham (Medford, Mass.)
 
IN THE POLLS
Providence is currently ranked #10 in the USCHO poll and #11 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, while the River Hawks are currently unranked. In the pairwise rankings, the River Hawks sit at #34 compared to the Friars' #11 ranking.  
 
A WIN FRIDAY…
A win on Friday would move the River Hawks to an 8-14-2 record on the season and a 52-64-11 record all-time against the Friars. A win would also give the River Hawks a 4-8-1 record against Hockey East opponents and hand Coach Bazin his 300th victory as a collegiate head coach.
 
UP NEXT
After this series, the River Hawks will face off against #2 Boston College next Friday, February 2 at the Tsongas Center, beginning at 7:15 p.m.

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