LOWELL, Mass. – After impressive weekends on the ice for the now eighth-ranked UMass Lowell hockey team (13-7-3, 6-5-2 Hockey East), graduate student
Pierson Brandon (Irvington, N.Y.) earned Hockey East Army ROTC Defender of the Week honors and junior
Beni Halasz (Budapest, Hungary) picked up Hockey East Stop It Goaltending Co-Goaltender of the Week honors.
Brandon was productive on both ends this weekend for the River Hawks, scoring a goal in each of the team's two games against No. 7/6 Providence to finish with two points and help the team to a 1-0-1 weekend, including a shootout victory. In Friday's game one, Brandon scored a nifty backhanded goal for the first of UMass Lowell's three goals, helping spark a comeback after going down 2-0 early in the game. He came back the next night to score the game-winner and only goal of the game with 10.1 seconds remaining in the third period to help clinch the win. He also added four blocked shots and seven shots on goal to his weekend stat line and finished with a +2 rating.
Halasz shined between the pipes for the River Hawks in the series, going 1-0-1 and playing every minute of both games. In game one, he made 27 saves to help the team force overtime, before making all three crucial saves in the shootout to lead them to the shootout victory and extra point in the Hockey East standings. In Saturday's game two, he stayed hot, earning his third shutout of the year with 24 saves, allowing the River Hawks to pick up the 1-0 win. He now boasts a 1.98 GAA and .929 save percentage on the year and ranks first in the Hockey East with a .944 conference save percentage and second in the Hockey East with a 1.71 conference GAA.
This marks the first Hockey East weekly award for Brandon and the second for Halasz.
The team will now shift their focus to this weekend, when they travel to No. 1 Boston College on Friday, January 31 at 7:00 p.m. and host Merrimack on Saturday, February 1 at 6:05 p.m.
