Friday vs. Boston College: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
Monday at Boston College: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
LOWELL, Mass. – After winning the Adirondack Winter Invitational last weekend in Lake Placid, N.Y. with a 2-0 victory against St. Lawrence and 4-4 tie against Clarkson, the No. 14/13 UMass Lowell ice hockey team (11-3-1, 5-2-0 Hockey East) is set for a two-game series against No. 3 Boston College.
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 14 games this season, they hold a 10-3-1 record (5-2-0 Hockey East). Nationally, in the USCHO poll, they rank No. 14, while sitting at No. 13 in the USA Hockey Poll.
UMass Lowell enters this series with BC after winning the Adirondack Winter Invitational in Lake Placid just one week ago. The River Hawks picked up their second consecutive shutout in game one against St. Lawrence, 2-0, before playing to a 4-4 tie with Clarkson in game two and winning the shootout to clinch the tournament win.
Stefan Owens netted the final shootout goal to win the tournament, while
Dillan Bentley and
Owen Cole also scored in the shootout as well.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
The Eagles enter the weekend with an 11-3-0 overall record, most recently defeating UConn in overtime 2-1 on Wednesday night.
The Eagles are coming off a successful 2023-24 season year where they finished 34-6-1 and reached the NCAA National Championship,falling to Denver, 2-0. They return three of their top five point-scorers from 2023-24 in sophomore Ryan Leonard, sophomore Gabe Perreault and junior Oskar Jellvik. Leonard totaled 60 points (31g, 29a) for third on the team, while Perreault was tied him with 19g and 41a. Jellvik was fifth on the team with 42 points (13g, 29a). They returned goaltenders Jacob Fowler and Jan Korec from last year as well. Fowler started 39 games with a 32-6-1 record, 2.14 GAA and .926 save percentage. Korec appeared in four games with two starts, going 2-0-0 with a 1.75 GAA and .918 save percentage.
This season, Perreault leads the team with 21 points (6g, 15a), while freshman James Hagens is just behind him with 18 (4g, 14a). Leonard sits in third with 17 points (11g, 6a) and leads the team in goals. Andre Gasseau is second on the team with seven goals scored, while Perreault's six goals ranks third.
HOT START
UMass Lowell is now 10-3-1, the 4th-best start through 14 games in their Division I history. They were 12-2-0 in 2001-02, 11-2-1 in 1986-87 and 10-1-3 in 2015-16. UMass Lowell has won their 1st six games away from the Tsongas Center this season. This is the 1st time in their Division I history they opened the season with 5 straight wins away from home.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 31st in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 437 of their 868 faceoffs taken for a .503 faceoff win percentage through their first 14 games.
UMASS LOWELL vs. BOSTON COLLEGE
The River Hawks have seen a lot of Boston College throughout program history, registering a 45-72-11 (.395) all-time mark against the Eagles. The two teams last played on February 2, 2024, when BC picked up a 6-1 win.
IN THE POLLS
UMass Lowell is ranked #14 in the USCHO poll and #13 in the USAHockey poll this week. When UMass Lowell is ranked in the USCHO poll (back to 1997-98), they are 249-167-44, including 122-71-24 at home, 95-77-18 on the road, and 32-15-2 at neutral sites. When they are playing other ranked teams (Boston College is #3 this week), they are 86-89-16, including 44-34-10 at home, 25-42-6 on the road, and 17-13-1 at neutral sites. Under
Norm Bazin, when playing other ranked teams, UMass Lowell is 68-59-15, 33-21-10 at home, 19-27-4 on the road, and 16-11-1 at neutral sites. Against teams ranked in the Top 3, UMass Lowell is 7-14-1, 5-3-1 at home, 1-6-0 on the road, 1-5-0 at neutral sites.
A WIN TODAY...
A win today would move the River Hawks to an 11-3-1 record on the season and a 46-72-11 record all-time against the Eagles. Head Coach
Norm Bazin would also move to a 15-16-4 career mark against BC. It would also extend UMass Lowell's unbeaten streak to four games.
UP NEXT
After Boston College, the River Hawks will have a break from action, before returning for a home exhibition against Simon Fraser University on Sunday, December 29 at 3:30 p.m. Following the exhibition, they will travel to host the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, California, facing off against Michigan Tech in game one and either Omaha or Holy Cross in game two.
