LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Freshman
Dalyn Wakely (Port Hope, Ontario)'s hat trick and senior
Dillan Bentley (Peoria, Ill.) and sophomore
Libor Nemec's (Bratislava, Slovakia) three-point games helped lead the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (6-8-0, 3-3-0 Hockey East) to a 7-3 victory against St. Lawrence (2-13-1, 1-5-0 ECAC) in the Adirondack Winter Invitational at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Bentley, playing in his 100
th career game for the River Hawks, netted two goals with an assist, and Nemec tallied his three points on three helpers to join Wakely in the three-point club. Graduate student
Jay Ahearn (Staten Island, N.Y.) and sophomore
Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.) also lit the lamp in the win. Freshman
Luke Shipley (Powell River, B.C.) and junior
Jak Vaarwerk (Clarence, N.Y.) had two-assist games, as Delaney added a helper along with senior Tj Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.), senior
Connor Eddy (Victoria, B.C.) and freshman
Diego Buttazzoni (Langley, B.C.).
Defensively, Schweighardt led the team with three blocked shots and freshman
Nate Misskey (Melfort, SK) added two, while two other skaters had one apiece. Freshman
Austin Elliott (Strathmore, Alberta) got the nod between the pipes for the River Hawks, making nine saves for the victory.
The River Hawks got off to a hot start, immediately applying pressure offensively with chances in front of the net, including one from Ahearn that just caught the pad of St. Lawrence goaltender Colin Winn. The squad cashed in at the 6:33 mark when Shipley picked up a loose puck after a St. Lawrence miscue and fed Bentley, who zoomed into the offensive zone and fired a wrist shot past Winn to open up the scoring.
Following the goal, the team continued to buzz and eventually added to the lead just six seconds into a power play. It started when Vaarwerk won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Nemec fed Vaarwerk in front of the net and his rebound found the stick of Wakely, who rifled one to the back of the net for the 2-0 lead. St. Lawrence then got on the board with goals at the 14:48, 16:51 and 18:27 marks to make it 3-2 heading into the first intermission.
The River Hawks found success in the second, taking the lead back with goals from Wakely and Ahearn. Wakely potted his second of the day to tie it up after Shipley put a puck on net and Nemec collected the rebound and tapped it in front of the net for Wakely to eventually find the five hole for the goal. Later on, with 29 seconds left in the period, Ahearn picked up the puck after a Vaarwerk faceoff win, grabbed his own rebound and finished it for the lead. Elliott found his groove between the pipes on the other end to keep the Saints scoreless and help bring the lead to the locker room.
Bentley opened up an eventful third period with his second goal of the game at 3:22. Schweighardt crossed the blue line with the puck and gave a crisp pass to Bentley on the far side, before he one-times it through the pads of Winn to make it a two-goal game. Delaney joined in on the scoring at the 13:13 mark. Eddy redirected the puck to Bentley, who entered the offensive zone and found Delaney. Delaney then skated towards the goal and sent a shot bar down to add to the lead. Wakely's hat trick was secured with just 13 seconds left on an empty net with passes from Nemec and
Diego Buttazzoni to lock in the 7-3 victory.
Next up, the River Hawks will take on Boston College in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday, December 5 and 6. Game one will be at 7:15 p.m. at the Tsongas Center, while Saturday's game two is set for 7:00 p.m.
