University of Massachusetts Lowell
Arizona State
River Hawks Welcoming Arizona State to Town for Two-Game Set
10/15/2026 4:48:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
Saturday vs. Arizona State: Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Listen
LOWELL, Mass. – After splitting its home series with Clarkson and St. Lawrence last weekend, the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (1-1-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East) will now host Arizona State (2-2-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) for a two-game set at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. Friday's series opener is set for 7:14 p.m., while Saturday's matchup will have a 6:05 p.m. puck drop. Â
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell entered the 2026-27 season coming off a 13-22-0 campaign that saw the River Hawks enter the Hockey East Tournament as the #9 seed. The team has graduated a handful of players and have bolstered their lineup of 18 returners with 10 newcomers, including three transfers, six freshmen and one former ECHL player . Of those transfers, two are seniors and one is a sophomore. The team kicked off the 2026-27 season in the 10th spot in the Hockey East Preseason Poll with 31 points. At the moment, they are not recieving votes in the USCHO or USA Hockey Polls.
UMass Lowell enters this weekend after splitting last weekendís home series against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Dalyn Wakely stood out, leading the team with three points on three assists, while Jacob MacDonald scored two goals throughout the weekend, lighting the lamp once in each game. Â
At the moment, Wakely leads the squad with three points (0g, 3a), while Jak Vaarwerk (1g, 1a), Jacob MacDonald (2g, 0a) and Kuzma Voronin (0g, 2a) all have two points thus far. Austin Elliott leads the goaltenders with a 2.51 GAA to go along with his .909 save percentage in 2 appearances.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
The Sun Devils enter the weekend with a 2-2-0 overall record and 0-0-0 conference record, most recently splitting last weekend at Holy Cross with a 2-1 loss and 5-4 overtime win.Â
Arizona State is coming off a 2025-26 season year where they finished 14-21-1 (7-16-1 NCHC). They fell, 4-1, to Denver in the season finale to close out their year. They return just one of their top five point-scorers from 2025-26 in Kyle Smolen. Smolen finished fourth with 20 points (7g, 13a). For goaltenders, they return Samuel Urban, who made 16 appearances for a 4-10-1 record, 3.50 GAA and .904 save percentage.
This season, Jack Beck (1g, 3a), Daniel Shlaine (3g, 1a), Jonas Woo (1g, 3a), Landon Hafele (0g, 4a) lead the team with 4 points each, while six others are tied with 3 points each. Urban has made three appearances in net so far, leading the team with a 3.00 GAA and .902 save percentage, while Sam Hillebrandt has seen one appearance with a GAA of 3.90 and .765 aave percentage. Â
UMASS LOWELL VS. ARIZONA STATE
The River Hawks have not seen a lot of ASU throughout program history, registering a 4-2-0 (.666) all-time mark against the Sun Devils. The two teams last played on October 3, 2021, when the River Hawks picked up a 4-2 win.
SCORING AGAINST THE SUN DEVILS
Zero River Hawks have played a game against Arizona State in their careers. The team last played them during the 2021-22 season, where they split their two game series. However, senior Anthony Dowd played FOR Arizona State from 2023-2026 before transferring to Lowell.Â
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
When Lowell scores 3 goals or more, they were 13-4-0 last season, and now 1-0-0 this season, 239-48-17 since Norm Bazin took over. When they score 2 goals or less, they were 0-18-0 last season and are 0-1-0 this season, 53-160-30 under Norm.
On the flip side, when Lowell allows 3 goals or more they were 5-16-0 last season and 0-1-0 this season, 52-168-17 under Norm, When they allow 2 goals or less they were 8-6-0 last season, 1-0-0 this season, and 240-40-30 under Norm.
FOR OPENERS
Lowell will began the season at home against Clarkson last Friday with a 3-2 loss. This is tied for the 10th earliest season opener and tied for the 6th earliest home opener. The earliest season and home opener was a 4-0 win over St. Lawrence on October 1, 2022. Lowellís road opener (both overall and Hockey East) will be on October 24 at Providence.
Lowell opens their Hockey East schedule at Tsongas against Providence on October 23. The earliest Hockey East Opener was a 4-0 shutout of Merrimack at Tsongas on October 3, 2025.
Overall, Lowell is now 30-25-5 in season openers (7-7-2 at the Norm Bazin era). When the season opener is at home, Lowell is now 13-13-3 (6-5-2 in the Norm Bazin era). In home openers overall, Lowell is 33-22-5 (6-7-3 in the Norm Bazin era).
In Hockey East openers, Lowell is 20-16-6 (7-5-3 in the Norm Bazin era). In Hockey East home openers, Lowell is 17-20-5 (6-6-3 in the Norm Bazin era).
Lowell has only opened the season on the road in the Norm Bazin era 3 times - a 4-2 win at Minnesota State on October 14, 2011 in Normís 1st game behind the Lowell bench, a 5-3 loss at Arizona State on October 2, 2021, and a 3-2 overtime loss at Alaska-Anchorage on October 7, 2023.
GOOD START
Kuzma Voronin recorded 2 assists last Saturday against St. Lawrence in his 2nd career game. Teammates Dalyn Wakely and Chris Delaney both record 2-point games in the collegiate debuts - Wakely had 2 assists against Merrimack on Opening Night last season, and Delaney had 2 goals against Minnesota-Duluth on Opening Night in 2024.
IN THE POLLS
At the moment, the River Hawks are not recieving votes in the USCHO or USA Hockey Polls.
A WIN TODAY..
A win today would move the River Hawks to 2-1-0 on the season and 5-2-0 against Arizona State. Head Coach Norm Bazin would also move to a 5-2-0 career mark against the Sun Devils.
UP NEXT
Next up, the River Hawks kick off Hockey East play on Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24 against Providence. Friday will have a 7:15 p.m. puck drop at home at the Tsongas Center, while game two is scheduled for 6:00Â p.m. at Schneider Arena in Providence.
