LOWELL, Mass. – Junior Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.) scored the team's lone goal, as the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (8-19-4, fell just short to No. 12/11 Providence, 2-1, on Saturday evening.
 
Sophomore Mark Cooper (Cambridge, Ontario) had the assist on Crasa's second-period goal, picking up his third of the year. Defensively, sophomore TJ Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.) led the way with five blocked shots, followed by seniors Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.) and Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.), who tallied three and two, respectively. Five other skaters recorded one block each, as well. Senior Henry Welsch (Lakeville, Minn.) got the nod in net for the River Hawks, finishing with 23 saves.

"We came up short today, but the guys showed some real push in the end," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "The team fought back in the second, killing several penalties and tied the game. We needed an earlier push in the third but we did hit a post before the puck was covered by a hand in the crease. The officials disagreed. I believe this string of bad luck will reverse itself at some point. We need to stay positive and hope the hockey gods can repay some of these bad breaks before the season ends." 
 
It was a hard-fought first period, with both teams trading possessions for the majority. Both defenses played stoutly, as just 13 total shots were had in the period and each squad killed off one penalty each. Providence eventually got on the board first at the 14:49, with a Graham Gamache goal to make it 1-0 heading into the intermission.
 
The second is when the River Hawks battled back, tying it up on Crasa's eighth goal of the season just 4:31 into the period. It all started when Cooper sent a pass from blue line to blue line, that made its way through to Crasa behind enemy lines. He zoomed toward the goal and made a nifty move on Providence goalie, Philip Svedebäck, before sending it to the back of the net. Once again, both teams were successful on the penalty kill twice in the period, and Welsch made a handful of crucial stops for the River Hawks to finish the second with 11 saves and help make it a 1-1 game heading into the final 20 minutes.
 
The third period continued the back-and-forth theme of the game, and both offenses combined for 21 shots within the first 10 minutes, and 37 overall. Providence took the 2-1 lead with 6:49 remaining, before a chaotic final two minutes of the game that saw nine UMass Lowell shot attempts after pulling Welsch. Multiple scoring opportunities arose from the shot attempts, including the hit post and challenge for covering the puck in the crease that was unsuccessful. The River Hawks were unable to find the back of the net despite the momentum, and the game concluded with a 2-1 score.  
 
Next up, the River Hawks will take on Massachusetts in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday, March 1 and 2. Game one will take place at home at the Tsongas Center at 7:15 p.m., while Saturday's game two will be at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass. At 6:00 p.m.