Friday vs. St. Lawrence: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
Saturday vs. Clarkson: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – After a series split with UConn at home last weekend, the River Hawks return to action this week in Lake Placid for the Adirondack Winter Invitational. The tournament features two Hockey East teams in No. 16 UMass Lowell (9-3-0, 5-2-0 Hockey East) and No. 10 Providence (8-3-2, 5-3-2 Hockey East), as well as two ECAC teams in St. Lawrence (4-9-0, 0-4-0 ECAC) and No. 20 Clarkson (9-4-1, 3-1-0 ECAC). The River Hawks will face off against St. Lawrence on Friday, November 29 at 4:00 p.m., before matching up with Clarkson on night two at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be at the historic Herb Brooks Arena at the Olympic Center.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell entered the 2024-25 season coming off an 8-24-4 campaign that saw the River Hawks enter the Hockey East Tournament as the #11 seed. The team has graduate a handful of players and have bolstered their lineup of 17 returners with 15 newcomers, including seven transfers and eight freshmen. Of those transfers, five are graduate students and two are juniors. The team kicked off the 2024-25 season in the ninth spot in the Hockey East Preseason Poll with 40 points. Through ten games this season, they hold an 8-2-0 record (4-1-0 Hockey East). Nationally, in both the USCHO and USA Hockey poll, they are currently ranked No. 16.
UMass Lowell enters this tournament after a two-game home series vs. UConn last weekend, where the squad picked up a series split. The River Hawks fell, 4-1, in game one, before responding on Saturday with a 1-0 shutout victory.
Beni Halasz earned Hockey East Goaltender of the Week for his 32-save shutout. At the moment,
Scout Truman (5g, 5a) and
Ben Meehan (2g, 8a) lead the squad with 10 points, while
Chris Delaney is the goals leader with 6.
SCOUTING THE SAINTS
The Saints enter the weekend with a 4-9-0 overall record, most recently falling to Yale, 5-1, and Brown, 2-1 (ot), last weekend. Their four wins came against RIT, Canisius, Niagara and Ferris State, and are now on a seven-game losing streak. They return four of their top five point-scorers from a year ago in Felikss Gavars (25 pts), Drake Burgin (20 pts), Mason Waite (20 pts) and Tomas Mazura (20 pts). They only return one goaltender from last season in Mason Kucenski, who started and appeared in just one game, allowing eight goals. This season, Greg Lapointe (7g, 6a) and Mazura (1g, 12a) lead the way with 13 points apiece through 13 games played. Ty Naaykens (3g, 3a), Gavars (2g, 4a) and Waite (2g, 4a) are behind them, tied with six points each to round out the top five scorers. Kucenski has been their primary goaltender this season, starting and appearing in 11 games and totaling a 4-7-0 record, 2.52 GAA and .917 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
The Golden Knights enter the weekend as the #20 ranked team in the country in the USCHO rankings with a 9-4-1 record, most recently splitting their two games last weekend, falling to Brown, 1-0 before defeating Yale 4-0. They return three of their top five point-scorers from a year ago in Ayrton Martino (27 pts), Ryan Richardson (22 pts) and Trey Taylor (18 pts). They return one goalkeeper, Brady Parker, who went 4-2-0 last season with a 2.37 GAA and .908 save percentage in 7 appearances. This season, Taylor leads the way with 10 points (3g, 7a), while Martino is just behind with 9 (4g, 5a). In net, Ethan Langenegger has a 9-3-0 record in 12 games played with a 1.50 GAA and .935 save percentage.
HONORS
The River Hawks are raking in the Hockey East honors so far this season, collecting 6 Hockey East awards.
Ben Meehan was named Defender of the Week (10/14),
Owen Cole (10/28) and
Dillan Bentley (11/18) were each named Player of the Week,
Beni Halasz (11/25) and
Henry Welsch were each named Goaltender of the Week once (11/18), while Welsch added Goaltender of the Month for October.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 36th in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekendís slate. The River Hawks have won 372 of their 749 faceoffs taken for a .497 faceoff win percentage through their first 12 games.
UMASS LOWELL vs. ST. LAWRENCE
The River Hawks have seen a fair amount of St. Lawrence throughout program history, registering a 15-9-1 (.620) all-time mark against the Saints. The two teams last played in the River Hawks 2022-23 season opener, with UMass Lowell taking a 4-0 victory.
UMASS LOWELL vs. CLARKSON
The River Hawks have seen a fair amount of Clarkson throughout program history, registering a 15-11-1 (.574) all-time mark against the Golden Knights. The two teams last played on October 20, 2017, with UMass Lowell earning the 3-1 victory.
IN THE POLLS
After the 1-1-0 weekend vs. UConn to secure an 9-3-0 start to the year, the River Hawks dropped down one spot in the USCHO rankings, now sitting at No. 16. They are also No. 16 in the USA Hockey poll. In the PairWise rankings, the River Hawks rank 11
th.
WHAT WINS WOULD DO
A win today would move the River Hawks to a 10-3-0 record on the season and a 16-9-1 record all-time against the Saints. Head Coach
Norm Bazin would also move to a 5-1-0 career mark against SLU. A win against Clarkson on Saturday would move the River Hawks to a 16-11-1 mark against the Golden Knights, while bringing Coach Bazin to a 7-1-1 mark.
NEW YORK TIES
The River Hawks have seven players that hail from New York, who will all be playing this tournament in their home state. Those players are
Jack Robilotti (New York, N.Y.),
Daniel Buchbinder (Clarence Center, N.Y.),
Jack Collins (Canton, N.Y.),
Pierson Brandon (Irvington, N.Y.),
Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.)
Jak Vaarwerk (Clarence, N.Y.) and
Tate Brandon (Irvington, N.Y.). Buchbinder is a former player at the Northwood School in Lake Placid, so he brings experience playing at the Olympic Center.
UP NEXT
After the tournament, the River Hawks will move on to No. 3 Boston College for two games, first at home on Friday, December 6 at 7:15 p.m., and next on Monday, December 9 at Boston College at 7:00 p.m. on NESN. This series will conclude the first half of the season for the River Hawks.
