The UMass Lowell ice hockey team, coming off a 16-16-4 record in 2024-25, is back and ready to kick off the 2025-26 campaign. It all starts on October 3 at the Tsongas Center, when the River Hawks host Hockey East foe Merrimack. Head Coach Norm Bazin and the squad are eager to get back on the ice and compete. 

The team returned in July and have been working towards this week for months with offseason workouts and practices. As excited as the guys are to chase success throughout the season, it all starts during the summer as they get their minds and bodies right. 

All the hard offseason work culminates at the annual Blue vs. White scrimmage, where the guys face off against their own teammates in a game-like scrimmage one week prior to opening night. It's a day where the newcomers can put on a River Hawk sweater for the first time and compete with a live game feeling. Once Blue vs. White day comes, the guys know the season is about to get started.  

Despite losing some key contributors from a year ago, the team bolstered the roster with 15 promising newcomers consisting of 12 freshman and three transfers. They also return three of the top five goal-scorers from last season in sophomore Chris Delaney, senior Dillan Bentley and sophomore Lee Parks. Sophomore Mirko Buttazzoni also returns after finishing the 2024-25 season with the team's second most points (19 pts) as a freshman (5g, 14a). Players with more experience that have proven themselves in a River Hawk uniform will not only be looked at to continue to do so this upcoming season, but also to assist with the newcomers' transition to collegiate hockey and UMass Lowell. 

The group of newcomers, even though they may be new to UMass Lowell or NCAA hockey, still have a high-level of hockey experience, making it easier to adjust. The summer is used not only for on-the-ice preparation, but also as an opportunity to bond and get closer as teammates and friends off the ice.  

Leading the team into battle this year will be Captain Jay Ahearn, along with the three alternate captains, seniors Dillan Bentley and TJ Schweighardt and junior Jak Vaarwerk.

Ahearn, a first-year River Hawk graduate student transfer, will sport the “C” on his sweater for the third time of his career. During his four-year career at Niagara, he was a two-time captain as a junior and senior. For Niagara, he played in 87 games, totaling 82 points on 36 goals and 46 assists. 

Bentley has appeared in 88 games through his first three seasons in Lowell, compiling 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 total points. He is tied as the team's top returning scorer after logging a career-high nine goals last season. Off the ice, the forward is an education and psychology major. 

Schweighardt, a staple on the River Hawks' defense, enters his fourth year being a part of the UMass Lowell hockey program. He has seen action in 87 games for the River Hawks, totaling 114 blocked shots, and 16 points (2g, 14a). He posted a personal-best 10 assists, while appearing in all 36 games during his junior season. Outside the rink, the defenseman is a business major.     

Vaarwerk steps into the role of alternate captain for the hockey program after playing in 72 games over his first two seasons with the River Hawks. He has registered 31 career points (10g, 21a) with a .502 faceoff percentage. Currently pursuing his bachelor's degree, the forward is a business major.

The River Hawks will play 35 regular season games this season, kicking it off with a home conference matchup against Merrimack on October 3. They head to Merrimack one week later for another solo matchup on October 10, before hosting the preseason #1 team in the nation and defending national champions, Western Michigan for a two-game set on October 17 and 18. 

Following Western Michigan, the team will head to Mercyhurst for more non-conference play, before returning to Hockey East play with a home-and-home series against Providence on October 31 and November 1. 

The team will also take part in two in-season tournaments in 2025-26, which are the same tournaments as last season. First is the Adirondack Winter Invitational in Lake Placid, N.Y. against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, followed by hosting the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, California. The Cactus Cup features Minnesota State, St. Cloud State and Yale, and they will open it up with Minnesota State with the winner advancing to the championship against the winner of St. Cloud State/Yale. These tournaments and the non-conference schedule are of the utmost importance to the team.

With a home matchup kickstarting the year, the players and coaches are especially excited to play in front of a River Hawk fanbase that have proven themselves to be one of the best in the nation at supporting the squad and making sure that support is heard loudly at home games.