Saturday vs. No. 2 Maine: Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+)
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LOWELL, Mass. – The 7
th-seeded UMass Lowell ice hockey team (16-15-4, 8-13-3 Hockey East) will travel to 2
nd-seeded Maine (21-7-6, 13-5-6 Hockey East) on Saturday evening for a Hockey East Quarterfinals matchup at the Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine, with the winner punching their ticket to the Semifinals at the TD Garden.
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 35 games this season, they hold a 16-15-4 record (8-13-3 Hockey East). Nationally, they rank #19 in the USCHO Poll and #17 in the USA Hockey Poll. In the Pairwise Rankings, they sit at #17.
UMass Lowell enters this game after a 3-2 overtime win against New Hampshire in the Opening Round. Freshman
Chris Delaney and senior
Matt Crasa scored in regulation, before
Scout Truman ended it 3:38 into the overtime period.
At the moment,
Owen Cole (8g, 12a) leads the way with 20 points on the year, while
Mirko Buttazzoni (5g, 14a) is just behind with 19 and Truman (10g, 8a) and Delaney (9g, 9a) are tied for third with 18.
Henry Welsch leads the two goaltenders with a 2.48 GAA and has a .901 save percentage, while
Beni Halasz is also posting a productive season with a 2.57 GAA and .909 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS
The Black Bears enter the weekend with a 21-7-6 overall record (13-5-6 Hockey East), most recently going 0-1-1 in a two-game series with Massachusetts on March 7 & 8. They earned themselves a bye for the Opening Round of the Hockey East Playoffs.
The Black Bears are coming off a successful 2023-24 season year where they finished 23-12-2 and reached the NCAA National Regional, falling to Cornell, 3-1. They return three of their top five point-scorers from 2023-24 in sophomore Josh Nadeau, graduate student Lynden Breen and senior Harrison Scott. Nadeau totaled 45 points (18g, 27a) for second on the team, while Breen finished third with 30 points (9g, 21a). Scott was fourth on the team with 27 points (15g, 12a). They returned one goaltender in sophomore Albin Boija, who appeared in 18 games last season with a 10-6-1 record, 2.01 GAA and .916 save percentage.
This season, Harrison Scott leads the team with 31 points (16g, 15a), while Taylor Makar (16g, 11a) is behind him with 27. Josh Nadeau ranks third with 25 points (8g, 17a).
UMASS LOWELL vs. MAINE
The River Hawks have seen a lot of Maine throughout program history, registering a 46-86-8 (.357) all-time mark against the Black Bears. The two teams last played on January 11, when the Black Bears picked up a 2-1 win.
SCORING AGAINST THE BLACK BEARS
27 players have now played at least one game against Maine in their careers.
Ben Meehan leads the way with 11 games played and eight points (1g, 7a), while
Owen Cole is just behind him in points with four (3g, 1a).
HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT HISTORY
UMass Lowell is 52-54-3 all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, with 3 Hockey East Tournament titles on their resume. They are now 2-3 in the Opening Round, 36-30-2 in the Quarterfinals, 9-13 in the semifinals, 2-3-1 in the consolation game, and 3-5 in the Championship Game.
VS. MAINE IN HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT
UMass Lowell and Maine have met in 11 previous Hockey East Tournaments, with the River Hawks advancing just once. When UMass Lowell is the higher seed, they have advanced once in four tries. Overall, UMass Lowell is 3-14 in tournament games against the Black Bears.
IN THE POLLS
UMass Lowell ranks #19 in the USCHO Poll and #19 in the USA Hockey Poll this week. They also rank #17 in the Pairwise Rankings going to into this matchup with Maine.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 45th in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 1,016 of their 2,104 faceoffs taken for a .483 faceoff win percentage through 35 games.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
When UMass Lowell scores 3 goals or more, they are 12-3-3 this season, and 225-43-17 since
Norm Bazin took over. When they score 2 goals or less, they are just 4-11-0 this season, and 53-140-29 under Bazin.
On the flip side, when UMass Lowell allows 3 goals or more they are 3-12-3 this season and 47-149-17 under Bazin, When they allow 2 goals or less they are now 13-2-0 this season, and 231-34-29 under Bazin.
CAREER BESTS
Dillan Bentley has 9 goals this season, easily eclipsing his career best of 4 from last year. His 15 points is also a career-best, besting the 12 he had last season.
Matt Crasa has 9 assists, tied with the career-best 9 he had as a freshman.
Pierson Brandon has 6 goals this season, tying the career-best 6 he had as a sophomore at Colgate.
T.J. Schweighardt has 10 points this season (all assists). He only had 6 points (2 goals 4 assists) in his freshman and sophomore years combined.
Scout Truman's 10 goals this season is a new career-best, edging past the 8 that he had as a freshman. His 37 PIM is by far a career-high, beating the 18 he had as a sophomore.
Owen Cole's 12 assists is a new career-best, beating the 8 that he had as a sophomore. His 20 points is also a career-best, topping the 17 he had as a junior.
Ben Meehan's 14 assists is a new his career high, beating the 13 from his junior year.
Jak Vaarwerk has 5 goals, matching the 5 goals he had as a freshman. His 11 assists is new career-best, edging out the 10 he had as a freshman.
Henry Welsch has 11 wins, beating the career-best 6 he had as a freshman and again as a junior.
Beni Halasz has 3 shutouts, matching the career-best 3 he had as a freshman with Northern Michigan.
IRON MEN
There are still 7 players on the roster who have appeared in every game this season:
Ben Meehan,
Jack Robilotti,
Owen Cole,
Scout Truman, T.J. Schweighardt,
Connor Eddy, and
Jak Vaarwerk. Last season, only 3 players did so -
Owen Cole,
Isac Jonsson, and
Jak Vaarwerk.
Owen Cole is the team's current Iron Man, having appeared in 84 consecutive games, last missing a game at Maine on January 14, 2023.
Jak Vaarwerk has not missed a game in his 2 years at Lowell, appearing in 71 so far. Michael Kapla holds the record for consecutive games player for Lowell, not missing a single one of the 161 that Lowell played during his 4 years in Lowell.
A WIN ON SATURDAY…
A win today would move the River Hawks to a 17-15-4 record on the season and a 47-86-8 record all-time against the Black Bears. Head Coach
Norm Bazin would also move to 20-12-3 against Maine. It would also advance the River Hawks to the TD Garden and the Hockey East Semifinals.
