HARTFORD, Conn. – Graduate student Jay Ahearn (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored twice, as the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (8-12-0, 4-6-0 Hockey East) earned a 5-3 victory against No. 10/11 UConn (11-6-3, 7-4-1 Hockey East) Friday night at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford.

Senior Connor Eddy (Victoria, B.C.), freshman Luke Shipley (Powell River, B.C.) and junior Jak Vaarwerk (Clarence, N.Y.) joined Ahearn in the goal department, while junior Sean Kilcullen (Kensington, Md.) and senior Dillan Bentley (Peoria, Ill.) each collected two assists. Sophomore Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.), senior TJ Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.) and Vaarwerk all added a helper as well.

Defensively, Bentley led the squad with three blocked shots, with sophomore Dominic Payne (North Vancouver, B.C.) just behind him with two. Four different players added one blocked shot apiece. Freshman Austin Elliott (Strathmore, Alberta) got the nod between the pipes for the River Hawks, making 24 saves for the win.

"It was a very strong effort tonight," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "I am proud of all four lines. We had contributions from everybody in the lineup. I felt the effort was consistent throughout the game. We had several good chances that did not go in, but we found a way through that. We bent but did not break in the third. Our captain, Jay Ahearn, sealed it after Jak Vaarwerk was forced to take several key faceoffs to close it out. We expect a similar, tight game tomorrow. Hockey East is tough every night."

The River Hawks started strong, winning the shots on goal battle 10-8 in the first period. Elliott and the defensive unit did their job to halt all of UConn's chances, while Eddy gave the River Hawks the lead just after the halfway point of the period at the 10:40 mark. Sophomore Lee Parks (Ottawa, Ontario) won a puck battle in the corner and got the puck to Eddy, who hit Kilcullen near the blue line. Kilcullen then fired the puck toward the net and Eddy got a stick on it to perfectly deflect it past the goaltender. The River Hawks battled for the remainder of the period, as each team killed off a penalty and traded off shots, and brought the 1-0 lead to the locker room.

The second period was eventful for UMass Lowell. UConn scored at the 9:54 mark and the River Hawks responded with three unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead going into the third period. All three goals came with under four minutes to play, and it was Ahearn that kicked off on the power play at 16:06, getting his stick on a Bentley shot to deflect it past the goaltender. Shipley then scored his first career goal just 53 seconds later, ripping a slapshot to the back of the net after a feed from Kilcullen to make it 3-1. Later, with 18 seconds remaining, Vaarwerk took a Bentley pass and zoomed by two defenders in the offensive zone and made a move on the goaltender before finishing it for his fourth of the year.

Despite two UConn goals in the third period, the River Hawks halted the comeback attempt to hang on for the 5-3 victory. Elliott made crucial saves toward the end of the game to keep the Huskies off the board and the squad fought for possession of the puck and kept the pressure on UConn's defensive unit and goaltender. After the Huskies pulled their goaltender, Ahearn took a pass from Schweighardt and ripped one into the empty net to secure the win and three points in the Hockey East standings.   

Next, the River Hawks return home for game two of the series tomorrow, Saturday, January 10 at 7:05 p.m. at the Tsongas Center.