Friday vs. Vermont: Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Listen | Game Notes
Saturday vs. #11/10 UConn: Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Listen | Game Notes
LOWELL, Mass. – The No. 10/9 UMass Lowell ice hockey team (14-8-3, 7-6-2 Hockey East) has another weekend full of Hockey East action ahead, hosting Vermont (9-13-3, 4-9-2 Hockey East) on Friday evening at the Tsongas Center, before hitting the road to UConn (14-9-3, 7-7-3 Hockey East) on Saturday at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Friday's game will commence at 6:05 p.m., while Saturday's is set for a 3:30 p.m. puck drop.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell entered the 2024-25 season coming off an 8-24-4 campaign that saw the River Hawks enter the Hockey East Tournament as the #11 seed. The team has graduate a handful of players and have bolstered their lineup of 17 returners with 15 newcomers, including seven transfers and eight freshmen. Of those transfers, five are graduate students and two are juniors. The team kicked off the 2024-25 season in the ninth spot in the Hockey East Preseason Poll with 40 points. Through 25 games this season, they hold a 14-8-3 record (7-6-2 Hockey East). Nationally, they rank #10 in the USCHO Poll and #9 in the USA Hockey Poll. In the Pairwise Rankings, they sit tied for #10.
UMass Lowell enters this weekend after a split last week against Boston College and Merrimack, falling 4-0 to BC on Friday, before getting a 3-2 victory vs. Merrimack at home on Saturday.
Jak Vaarwerk,
Lee Parks and
Jack Robilotti each scores in Saturday's win.
At the moment,
Owen Cole (6g, 10a) lead the way with 16 points, while
Mirko Buttazzoni (5g, 10a) and
Scout Truman (8g, 7a) each have 15.
Beni Halasz leads the two goaltenders with a 2.15 GAA and .922 save percentage, while
Henry Welsch boasts a 2.50 GAA and .895 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
The Catamounts enter the weekend with a 9-13-3 overall record (4-9-2 Hockey East), most recently splitting with UNH last weekend with a 3-2 OT win and 5-2 loss.
Vermont is coming off a 2023-24 season year where they finished 13-19-3 (7-14-3 Hockey East), falling to UConn in the Hockey East Opening Round. They return two of their top five point-scorers from 2023-24 in Jens Richard and Timofei Spitserov. Richards led the squad with 21 points (10g, 11a) last year, while Spitserov ranked tied for fifth with 14 (7g, 7a). For goaltenders, the team returned Axel Mangbo from last year's roster. He
only appeared in three games last season, collecting a 5.00 GAA and .857 save percentage with a 0-1-0 record.
This season, Max Strand leads the team with 20 points (7g, 13a), while Colin Kessler (9g, 9a) is behind him with 18 points and Massimo Lombardi (8g, 9a) and Joel Maatta (4g, 13a) are tied for third with 17 each.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 39th in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 726 of their 1,474 faceoffs taken for a .493 faceoff win percentage through their first 25 games.
UMASS LOWELL vs. VERMONT
The River Hawks have seen a lot of Vermontthroughout program history, registering a 42-17-10 (.681) all-time mark against the Catamounts. The two teams last played on November 16, 2024 when the River Hawks picked up a 3-0 victory.
UMASS LOWELL vs. UCONN
The River Hawks have also seen a lot of UConn throughout program history, registering a 32-16-3 (.657) all-time mark against the Huskies. The two teams last played on November 23, 2024 when the River Hawks picked up a 1-0 victory.
IN THE POLLS
UMass Lowell ranks #10 in the USCHO Poll and #9 in the USA Hockey Poll this week. They also rank tied for #10 in the Pairwise Rankings going to into this set with Vermont and UConn.
CAREER BESTS
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Dillan Bentley already has 5 goals this season, beating his career best of 4 from last year. His 10 points is 2 points shy of his career-best 12 from last season.
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Matt Crasa has 8 assists, tied with the 8 he had as a sophomore, and 1 behind the career-best 9 he had as a freshman.
-T.J. Schweighardt has 8 points this season (all assists). He only had 6 points (2 goals 4 assists) in his freshman and sophomore years combined.
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Scout Truman's 8 goals this season matches his career-best 8 that he had as a freshman. His 33 PIM is by far a career-high, beating the 18 he had as a sophomore.
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Owen Cole's 10 assists is a new career-best, beating the 8 that he had as a sophomore. His 16 points is just one shy of the career-best 17 he had as a junior.
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Ben Meehan's 10 assists are 3 shy of his career-best 13 as a junior.
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Henry Welsch already has 9 wins, beating the career-best 6 he had as a freshman and again as a junior.
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Beni Halasz has 3 shutouts, matching the career-best 3 he had as a freshman with Northern Michigan.
A WIN ON FRIDAY…
A win on Friday would move the River Hawks to a 15-8-3 record on the season and a 43-17-10 record all-time against the Catamounts. Head Coach
Norm Bazin would also move to 30-4-5 against Vermont.
UP NEXT
The River Hawks will follow up this weekend with a home-and-home series with Northeastern, starting Friday, February 15 at Northeastern at 7:00 p.m. They will then host the Huskies the next night at 6:05 p.m. at the Tsongas Center.
