LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell ice hockey team (7-17-3, 3-11-2 Hockey East) played to a 1-1 tie on Friday night against Vermont (11-12-2, 5-8-2 Hockey East), eventually falling in a shootout 1-0 at the Tsongas Center.
 
Sophomore Mitchell Becker (Rogers, Minn.) was the goal scorer for the River Hawks, potting his third of the year off a feed from graduate student Alex Peterson (Collegeville, Pa.). Defensively, Junior Isac Jonsson (Ängelholm, Sweden), senior Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.) and sophomore Nick Rhéaume (Trois-Rivieres, Quebec) each had two blocked shots to lead the team, while four different skaters tied for one apiece. Senior Henry Welsch got the nod between the pipes for the River Hawks, making 17 saves.
 
"I thought it was a good hockey game tonight," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "I liked our effort much better than last week. I felt that we played three periods, and we played an overtime. We obviously had our opportunities, but didn't convert, but I was very happy with the intensity. The play away from the puck I thought was disciplined. These guys make you play a patient game and I thought we didn't get out of our process, and that was what I was most pleased with. Obviously, we don't get the extra point in the shootout, but that happens."    
 
The hard-fought game got out to a hard-fought start, with both teams trading off possessions and shot attempts throughout the first five minutes. It was the River Hawks that won the shots on goal battle for the first period, 12-9. Sophomore Jack Collins (Canton, N.Y.) had the first great scoring opportunity at the 4:56 mark, skating through the left faceoff circle and firing a hard wrister that was saved by Vermont goalie Gabe Carriere. After the River Hawks drew a penalty at 8:33, they threatened with the man advantage, firing four quality shots, but to no avail. Throughout the remainder of the period, some great goalie play halted all shots on goal to send both teams to the locker room without a goal.
 
Vermont got on the board to begin the second with a Joel Maatta goal, but the River Hawks fought back with a lamp-lighter of their own just under 10 minutes later. Becker collected a Peterson pass at the blue line and zoomed past multiple defenders in the middle of the offensive zone, before firing one past Carriere for the equalizer. The squad was then able to kill off a Catamounts penalty late in the period, closing out the second with the score knotted up at one.
 
The third period began similarly to the first, with the game going back-and-forth with tight defensive play. The River Hawks had a crucial penalty kill after being called for a trip at the 6:18 mark, and throughout the Vermont power play, the River Hawks blocked three Catamount shots, while Welsch was able to make two saves to help keep the score the same. With the score still locked up at one, Becker had another great opportunity to score in front of the net with 1:30 remaining that was just saved, before the River Hawks drew another penalty to give them a power play with 1:23 left. They could not find the back of the net, however, and regulation ended at 1-1, sending it to overtime with 37 seconds left on the UMass Lowell power play.
 
The overtime period was a battle, as the River Hawks won three out of four faceoffs and tallied four shots on goal compared to the Catamounts' three. Both goalies made important saves throughout extra period, bringing the game to a shootout, where the Catamounts' one goal was enough to give them the shootout victory. With the shootout loss, the River Hawks collect one point in the Hockey East standings.
 
Next, the River Hawks return to the Tsongas tomorrow, February 10, for game two of the two-game home series. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.