Friday vs. New Hampshire: Live Stats | Watch | Listen
Saturday at New Hampshire: Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Listen
LOWELL, Mass. – After splitting last weekend's series against #16/15 Providence, the River Hawks look to keep the momentum going from Saturday's win when they face off against another conference foe in New Hampshire. Game one will be at 7:15 p.m. at the Tsongas Center, before the team treks to the Whittemore Center at New Hampshire for game two at 7:00 p.m.
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 graduated 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 recieving four votes in the USCHO. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.
UMass Lowell enters this weekend after splitting a home-and-home last weekend with #16/15 Providence. The River Hawks dropped game one, 5-2, before getting revenge in game two with a 5-1 victory. Jak Vaarwerk led the way with four points (2g, 2a), while TJ Schweighardt scored Saturday's game-winner.
At the moment, three players lead the team with six points in Schweighardt (2g, 4a), Vaarwerk (2g, 4a) and Dalyn Wakely (6a). Mirko Buttazzoni (3g, 2a) and Dillan Bentley (2g, 3a) each have five points apiece. Austin Elliott leads the goaltenders with a 2.27 GAA and .917 save percentage in his six appearances, while Samuel Richard holds a 3.04 GAA and .901 save percentage in four appearances.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 3-4-0 overall record, most recently going 1-1-0 against Vermont last weekend. They won game one, 4-2, before coming back on night two and falling 2-1.
New Hampshire is coming off a 2024-25 season year where they finished 13-16-6 (5-14-5 HEA), and fell to UMass Lowell, 3-2 (OT), in the Hockey East Opening Round. They return two of their top five point-scorers from 2024-25 in Cy LeClerc and Nick Ring. LeClerc finished third on the team with 28 points (8g, 20a), while Ring finished fifth with 20 (9g, 11a). For goaltenders, the team returns Jared Whale, who finished last season with an 11-15-5 record in 31 appearances with a 2.68 GAA and .888 save percentage.
This season, Morgan Winters leads the team with six points (4g, 2a), while FÈlix Gagnon sits in second with five points (4g, 1a) and three different players are tied for third with three points each. Kyle Chauvette has started all seven games in net for the Wilcats with a 3-4-0 record, 2.47 GAA and .913 save percentage.
UMASS LOWELL VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE
The River Hawks have seen a lot of New Hampshire throughout program history, registering a 50-72-18 (.421) all-time mark against the Wildcats. The two teams last played on March 12, 2025 in the Hockey East Opening Round, when the River Hawks picked up a 3-2 win in overtime to advance them to the quarterfinals.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
UMass Lowell and New Hampshire have faced one another on nine different ice surfaces. The two have battled at the Tsongas Center, Tully Forum (Billerica, MA), Snively Arena, Whittemore Center, JFK Coliseum (Manchester, NH), Verizon Wireless Arena (Manchester, NH), Boston Garden, TD Garden/FleetCenter, and Alfond Arena. UMass Lowell has also played Boston College in nine different buildings. UMass Lowell has played Maine in 10 different buildings and Clarkson in eleven different buildings.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 22nd in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 262 of their 508 faceoffs taken for a .516 faceoff win percentage through their first eight games.
IN THE POLLS
At the moment, the River Hawks are receiving four votes in the USCHO Poll while not receiving any votes in the USA Hockey 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 5-4-0 record on the season and a 51-72-18 record all-time against the Wildcats. Head Coach
Norm Bazin would also move to 21-18-3 against New Hampshire.
UP NEXT
Next, the River Hawks will return to non-conference play and make a trip to New York to take on Union on Friday, November 14 at 7:00 p.m. and RPI on Saturday, November 15 at 4:00 p.m.
