LOWELL, Mass. – Five different skaters scored goals, as the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (4-4-0, 2-2-0 Hockey East) topped Providence (3-3-1, 1-1-0 Hockey East) by a score of 5-1 Saturday evening at the Tsongas Center.

Graduate student Jay Ahearn (Staten Island, N.Y.), senior TJ Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.), sophomore Lee Parks (Ottawa, Ontario), freshman Nate Misskey (Melfort, SK) and junior Jak Vaarwerk (Clarence, N.Y.) all lit the lamp for the River Hawks in the win. Misskey and Vaarwerk also collected assists, while sophomore Libor Nemec (Bratislava, Slovakia) joined them in the two-point club with two helpers and sophomore Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.) added one.

Defensively, eight different players blocked at least one shot, with junior Sean Kilcullen (Kensington, Md.) leading the way with two, while nine others all grabbed one apiece. Freshman Austin Elliott (Strathmore, Alberta) impressed between the pipes for the River Hawks, making 23 saves for the win.

"I liked the result tonight," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "I thought it was a response effort. We needed a game like this to make a statement for our team. It's a young season and you need to respond after an average effort and that's what we thought we did last night. It wasn't our best, but tonight I thought we came back."

Offensively, the River Hawks got started immediately with a near-goal just 10 seconds in, but after review, the puck did not cross the goal line. The remainder of the period was a battle, with both defensive units limiting each other's opportunities. The River Hawks took the 9-8 shots on goal lead to the locker room with the score knotted up at zero.

Ahearn's fourth goal of the year opened up the scoring early in the second period at the 4:01 mark. Nemec won a puck battle at the defensive blue line and surged into the offensive zone with Ahearn on a 2-on-1, before feeding Ahearn in the faceoff circle, who rifled a one-timer past Providence goaltender Jack Parsons for the lead. Later in the period, Schweighardt extended the lead with a shorthanded goal at 15:42, collecting a blocked shot from Kilcullen in the defensive zone and taking it coast to coast for the goal. Providence responded with a goal of their own 34 seconds later to make it 2-1 and the score remained at the second intermission.

The River Hawks put their foot on the gas in the third period, sealing the game with three unanswered goals. First, it was Parks on a power play after Providence was called for a five minute major. The sequence started with a hustle play from Delaney to chase after a puck in the offensive zone and find Misskey, who fed it back to Delaney and to the stick of Parks, who fired one to the back of the net to make it 3-1. Not long after, at the 9:43 mark, Misskey scored the first of his career on a power play, after Vaarwerk sent a pass across the slot for Misskey to one-time from the faceoff circle. The penalty kill then went to work, keeping the Friars from capitalizing on their man advantage, before Vaarwerk cashed in on the empty net at 18:41 to cement the victory.

Next up, the River Hawks take on New Hampshire in a two-game conference home-and-home series, beginning Friday, November 7 at 7:15 p.m. at the Tsongas Center. Saturday's game two is set for 7:00 p.m. at New Hampshire.