Friday vs. #2 Western Michigan: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
Saturday vs. #2 Western Michigan: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
LOWELL, Mass. – After dropping last week's standalone game at Merrimack, 4-1, the UMass Lowell hockey team (1-1-0, 1-1-0 Hockey East) returns to the Tsongas Center and welcomes the No. 2 Western Michigan Broncos (1-1-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) to town for a two-game home series.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell entered the 2025-26 season coming off an 16-16-4 campaign that saw the River Hawks enter the Hockey East Tournament as the #7 seed. The team has graduate a handful of players and have bolstered their lineup of 14 returners with 15 newcomers, including three transfers and 12 freshmen. Of those transfers, one is graduate student, one is a senior and one is a sophomore. The team kicked off the 2025-26 season tied for the seventh spot in the Hockey East Preseason Poll with 53 points. At the moment, they are receiving 7 votes in the USCHO Poll and 7 in the USA Hockey Poll. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.
UMass Lowell enters this weekend after a 4-1 loss at Merrimack last Friday evening. Sophomore
Chris Delaney scored the lone River Hawks goal in the second period to open up the game's scoring. Junior
Jak Vaarwerk had the assist.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
The Broncos enter the weekend with a 1-1-0 overall record, most recently splitting last weekend's series against Ferris State. They fell, 3-2, in game one before coming back for a 6-4 game two win.
Western Michigan is coming off a 2024-25 season year where they finished 34-7-1 (19-4-1 NCHC), and won the 2025 NCAA National Championship. They return three of their top five point-scorers from 2024-25 in Owen Michaels, Grant Slukynsky, Liam Valente. Michaels (18g, 18a) and Slukynsky (10g, 26a) were tied for third on the team with 36 points, while Valente was fifth with 33 points (14g, 19a). For goaltenders, the team returns Hampton Slukynsky, who finished the 2024-25 season with a 19-5-1 record, 1.90 GAA and .922 save percentage in 25 games played.
DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPS
Western Michigan comes to town as the defending National Champion. All-time, when UMass Lowell faces a reigning champ, they are 16-17-2, 5-7-2 at home, 10-8-0 on the road, 1-2-0 at neutral sites. Under
Norm Bazin they are 4-7-1, 1-2-1 at home, 2-3-0 on the road, 1-1-0 at neutral sites. Against teams not from Hockey East, UMass Lowell is 2-1-0, with all 3 games on the road (6-4 win over North Dakota in 1987-88, 3-2 win at Minnesota-Duluth in 2019-20, 2-1 loss to Minnesota-Duluth in 2019-20).
AGAINST #2
Western Michigan stumbled on Opening Night against Ferris State but remains #2 in this week's USCHO poll. When UMass Lowell faces the #2 team in the nation, they are 7-14-0, 3-6-0 at home, 4-6-0 on the road, and 0-2-0 at neutral sites. When UMass Lowell is unranked, they are just 2-9-0, 0-4-0 at home, 2-4-0 on the road, and 0-1-0 at neutral sites. Before losing to #2 Boston College last December, UMass Lowell had won 3 straight games against the 2nd best team in the land. This is the first time they will play a team ranked #2 that is not from Hockey East.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 2md in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 72 of their 123 faceoffs taken for a .585 faceoff win percentage through their first two games.
UMASS LOWELL vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN
The River Hawks have not seen a lot of Western Michigan throughout program history, facing off against the Broncos just one time in program history and earning the victory. The two teams last played on November 25, 1994, when the River Hawks picked up the 3-2 win in the Great Alaska Face-Off in Fairbanks, AK.
IN THE POLLS
At the moment, the River Hawks are receiving 7 votes in the USCHO Poll. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.
A WIN TODAY...
A win today would move the River Hawks to a 2-1-0 record on the season and an 2-0-0 record all-time against the Broncos. Head Coach
Norm Bazin would get his first win against Western Michigan as well.
UP NEXT
Next, the River Hawks will travel to Erie, Pa. to face off against Mercyhurst for a two-game road set on Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25. Puck drop for Friday's game will be at 7:00 p.m., while Saturday's game is set for 4:00 p.m.
