Wednesday at #15/18 Maine: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
LOWELL, Mass. – After dropping a pair of games to Boston College last weekend, the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (6-10-0, 3-5-0 Hockey East) turns around quickly for a midweek matchup with No. 15/18 Maine in Portland at Cross Insurance Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 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 not recieving votes in the USCHO or USA Hockey Polls. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.
UMass Lowell enters this weekend after an 0-2-0 weekend against Boston College. The River Hawks fell, 3-1, in both games of the series.
Mirko Buttazzoni (1g, 1a),
Diego Buttazzoni (1g, 1a) and
Libor Nemec (0g, 2a) all led the team with two points each.
At the moment, Wakely leads the squad with 12 points (5g, 7a).
Jay Ahearn (6g, 3a),
Dillan Bentley (5g, 4a) and
Jak Vaarwerk (3g, 6a) are all just behind him with nine apiece.
Austin Elliott leads the goaltenders with a 2.55 GAA, along with a .904 save percentage in his 12 appearances, while
Samuel Richard holds a 2.72 GAA and a team-leading .912 save percentage in seven appearances.
SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS
The Black Bears enter the weekend with a 8-7-1 overall record, most recently going 0-2-0 last weekend against New Hampshire. They fell to the Wildcats, 1-0, on Friday and 3-2 in game two on Saturday.
Maine is coming off a 2024-25 season year where they finished 24-8-6 (13-5-6 Hockey East). They won the Hockey East Championship with a 5-2 victory over UConn and fell to Penn State in the NCAA Regional Semifinal. They return three of their top five point-scorers from 2024-25 in Josh Nadeau, Frank Djurasevic and Charlie Russell. Nadeau finished third with 29 points (10g, 19a), while Djurasevic finished fourth with 28 points (7g, 21a) and Russell finished fifth with 26 (7g, 19a). For goaltenders, they return Albin Boija, who finished last season with a 23-8-6 record, 1.82 GAA and .928 save percentage.
This season, Justin Poirier leads the team with 17 points (11g, 6a), while Brandon Holt sits in second with 15 points (3g, 12a) and Miguel Marques is third with 13 (6g, 7a). Boija has started in all 12 of his appearances in net with a 6-5-1 record, 2.66 GAA and .893 save percentage. Mathis Rousseau has five appearances with a 2-2-0 record, 2.34 GAA and .902 save percentage.
UMASS LOWELL VS. MAINE
The River Hawks have seen a lot of Maine throughout program history, registering a 46-87-8 (.355) all-time mark against the Black Bears. The two teams last played on March 15, 2025 in the Hockey East Quarterfinal when the River Hawks fell, 7-1, at Alfond Arena.
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Under
Norm Bazin, UMass Lowell is now 86-104-19 against ranked teams, 40-42-13 at home, 30-51-5 on the road, and 16-11-1 at neutral sites.
UMass Lowell is 0-6-1 in their last 7 games against ranked teams away from Tsongas, dating back to a 1-0 win against Providence at Schneider Arena on January 25, 2025. This is the 5th longest winless streak on record (since the USCHO Poll began in 1997-98). The longest was an 18 game skid (0-17-1) between February 28, 1998 and February 16, 2001.
Overall, UMass Lowell is just 3-30-4 in their last 37 games against ranked teams.
VISITING PORTLAND
UMass Lowell has had very good luck in the Forest City over the years. This will be Lowell's 4th game in the former Cumberland County Civic Center, now known as Cross Insurance Arena. During the 1982-83 season, UMass Lowell won the Down East Classic at the arena, beating Colby 3-2 in overtime on the 1st day in front of 1003 fans, then beating Plattsburgh in the Championship Game the next day by a score of 4-2, in front of 1083 fans. More recently, UMass Lowell defeated Maine by a score of 2-0 on November 27, 2021 at Cross Insurance Arena in front of 4176 fans. Capacity for hockey is officially 6206.
This is one of 15 arenas that UMass Lowell has visited over the years and won every time they have been there. The 3-0-0 record is tied with the former home of UConn (Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum) and the Mira Mesa House of Ice in San Diego, CA for the 2nd most wins without a loss for UMass Lowell in their Division 1 history. They are 4-0-0 all-time at Colgateís Class of 1965 Arena
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
When Lowell scores 3 goals or more, they are 6-0-0 this season, and 231-43-17 since Norm Bazin took over. When they score 2 goals or less, they are 0-10-0 this season, and 53-152-30 under Norm.
On the flip side, when UMass Lowell allows 3 goals or more they are 2-6-0 this season and 49-157-17 under Norm. When they allow 2 goals or less they are 4-4-0 this season, and 235-38-30 under Norm.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 26th in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 494 of their 975 faceoffs taken for a .507 faceoff win percentage through their first 16 games.
IN THE POLLS
At the moment, the River Hawks are not receiving votes in the USCHO or USA Hockey Polls. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.
A WIN TODAY...
A win today would move the River Hawks to a 7-10-0 record on the season and a 47-87-8 record all-time against the Black Bears. Head Coach
Norm Bazin would also move to 20-13-3 against Maine.
UP NEXT
Next, the River Hawks will have a break for the holidays, returning for an exhibition matchup with Bentley on Sunday, December 28 at 3:30 p.m. at the Tsongas Center.
