DURHAM, N.H. – The UMass Lowell ice hockey team (15-15-4, 8-13-3 Hockey East) came up short, 4-2, in the regular season finale against New Hampshire (13-15-6, 5-14-5 Hockey East) Saturday evening at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.

Junior Connor Eddy (Victoria, B.C.) and freshman Lee Parks (Ottawa, Ontario) scored the goals for the River Hawks, while graduate student Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.), junior TJ Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.), senior Isac Jonsson (Ängelholm, Sweden) and freshman Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.) all added a helper apiece. Junior Beni Halasz (Budapest, Hungary) got the start in net, making 27 saves.

"I thought we came with some jam tonight, as opposed to yesterday" said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "I thought the difference was special teams. 5-on-5 was an even game and we are going to have to move on."

It was a solid start for the River Hawks, killing off three power play chances and taking a 1-0 lead in the first. Throughout the period, freshman Lee Parks (Ottawa, Ontario) and junior Mitchell Becker (Rogers, Minn.) gave the offense some momentum with scoring chances about midway through, before Eddy gave the squad the lead at the 15:18 mark. Meehan got the play started in the defensive zone, finding Schweighardt, who fed Eddy in the neutral zone. Eddy then zoomed past defenders and found some space in the offensive zone where he rifles a wrister past New Hampshire goaltender Rico DiMatteo for the lead. With five seconds left in the period, the Wildcats were called for interference, giving the River Hawks 1:55 of power play time to start the second period.

The squad was unable to cash in on the power play chance to begin the second, and they quickly gained another man advantage at 4:47 that saw a scoring chance from senior Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario), but the shot was just saved. Freshman Libor Nemec (Bratislava, Slovakia) picked up another good chance later in the period with 6:27 left. At the 17:35 mark, New Hampshire tied it up with a goal and the gamer went to the third period knotted up at one.

The River Hawks scored late in the third on a Parks tip-in, with Jonsson and Delaney earning the assists, but three New Hampshire goals in the period made it a final score of 4-2.

The River Hawks are now the #7 seed in the Hockey East Playoffs and will take on #10 seeded New Hampshire in the Opening Round for the second consecutive year on Wednesday, March 12.