LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell ice hockey team (8-22-4, 4-16-3 Hockey East) dropped Friday night's game against No. 18 New Hampshire (18-14-1, 10-11-1 Hockey East), 4-0, at the Tsongas Center.
 
It was the final home game of the season for the River Hawks, with seven players skating for the last time at Tsongas. Those players include graduate students Nick Granowicz (Macomb, Mich.), Alex Peterson (Collegeville, Pa.), Filip Fornåå Svensson (Linköping, Sweden) and Jake Stella (Karlstad, Sweden), as well as seniors Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.), Henry Welsch (Lakeville, Minn.) and Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.).
 
"It's a good group," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "Looking at their whole body of work though, there's three four-year guys – Meehan, Welsch, and Engum, who have put in a lot of work, and I respect them greatly. They're all graduating on time, they're all great human beings and hopefully they'll have a chance to play after college. And obviously the four fifth-year guys in Granowicz, Peterson, Stella, and Svensson, I know them a little less because I've had one or two years at most with those guys, but they're good human beings and they're hopefully going to have an opportunity to play after college."
 
Despite being held scoreless, the River Hawks fought to kill three New Hampshire power plays and held the Wildcats to zero goals in the third period and the majority of the second. Defensively, six different skaters collected at least one blocked shot, with Engum and sophomore Mark Cooper (Cambridge, Ontario) leading the way with two each, followed by four players with one block apiece. Welsch and junior Luke Pavicich (Clarence Center, N.Y.) each saw time in net, as Welsch got the starting nod, before Pavicich entered the game and they each made nine saves. Pavicich allowed zero goals in his 37 minutes of playing time.
 
"This was not the game we were looking for," said Bazin. "This is a season of firsts, and it was not the start we were looking for and not the type of game that we're accustomed to playing in our D zone, and I didn't think we penetrated or were threatening in the offensive zone. It should be a good game tomorrow, because they didn't have to work and we didn't work, so both teams should have lots of energy."   
 
The Wildcats got on the board first just over three minutes in on a Nick Cafarelli goal. After the River Hawks killed off a 4-on-3 New Hampshire advantage, freshman Jaiden Moriello (Saugus, Mass.) collected the first great scoring opportunity for the River Hawks, hitting the post at 13:36. Toward the end of the period, at 18:11, New Hampshire added one to make it 2-0 heading into the first intermission.  
 
The second period saw two quick goals from the Wildcats, before Pavicich entered the game at 2:41 for the River Hawks, saving every shot on goal for the remainder of the period. The River Hawks picked up a power play opportunity at the 7:09 mark on a New Hampshire tripping call, and Stella and Fornåå Svensson had prime scoring chances in front of the net, but both shots were just saved. The squad drew another penalty at the 11:12 mark but were unable to capitalize.  The teams went back-and-forth to close out the period to bring them to the locker room with a 4-0 score.  
 
The River Hawks fought hard in the third, outshooting the Wildcats 6-3, while limiting their scoring chances and playing stout defense. Although they did not find the back of the net offensively, Pavicich performed well between the pipes on the other end, making three saves to blank New Hampshire, while the penalty kill unit killed off two Wildcat power plays. The game would then go on conclude with the score at 4-0.
 
Next up, the River Hawks will travel to New Hampshire tomorrow, March 9 for the regular season finale. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will once again be streamed on NESN.