LOWELL, Mass. – Freshman Josh Mori (Richmond, B.C.) scored two goals, as the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (9-17-0, 5-11-0 Hockey East) dropped a hard-fought battle, 6-4, against Massachusetts (16-10-0, 9-7-0 Hockey East) at the Tsongas Center Sunday afternoon.

Mori's performance marked his first career multi-goal game and fellow freshmen Dalyn Wakely (Port Hope, Ontario) and Diego Buttazzoni (Langley, B.C.) joined him with two points each. Buttazzoni scored his third goal of the season with one assist, while Wakely collected two helpers. Senior TJ Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.) was the other goal scorer for the River Hawks, while five other skaters picked up assists in sophomore Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.), freshman David Adaszynski (Burnaby, B.C.), junior Sean Kilcullen (Kensington, Md.), sophomore Libor Nemec (Bratislava, Slovakia) and sophomore Lee Parks (Ottawa, Ontario).

Defensively, freshman Nate Misskey (Melfort, SK) led the team with three blocked shots, while three players tallied two each and three others had one apiece. Freshman Austin Elliott (Strathmore, Alberta) got the nod between the pipes for the River Hawks, making 19 saves.

"It was an entertaining hockey game," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "For once, it wasn't a one-goal game against these guys. I thought we gave momentum back to them on a number of occasions tonight and they capitalized. Overall, we didn't get it done at home, so we have to better next week."

The River Hawks got started early, as Mori buried one to open up the scoring at the 3:44 mark. Wakely and Nemec got the puck to Mori in the defensive zone and Mori took it coast to coast, before firing the puck to the top right corner for his second of the year. The squad then killed off a penalty at the 9:03 mark, but Massachusetts got on the board with two goals at 14:17 and 17:27 to bring the game to intermission with a 2-1 score.  

The second period saw another 2-1 outcome in favor of the visiting team, but it was Buttazzoni that lit the lamp for the River Hawks on their only power play of the game at the 14:59 mark. Wakely and Kilcullen moved the puck around the offensive zone and, from the top of the faceoff circle, Buttazzoni one-timed Kilcullen's pass to the back of the net for his first of two points on the night.

With the score at 4-2 going into the third, the River Hawks clawed back into the game with two goals within the first five minutes of the period to tie it up. Mori scored his second of the night at 3:24, after Adaszynski entered the offensive zone and found Delaney, who sent a crisp pass to Mori in the high slot before he finished the wrist shot. Just 50 seconds later, Schweighardt took a Parks feed in the faceoff circle and beat the goaltender glove side to make it 4-4 with 15:56 left. Massachusetts went on to score at the 17:06 mark and added an empty netter to take the lead and conclude the game with a 6-4 score.

The River Hawks will now seek revenge next weekend, as they matchup with Massachusetts in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday, February 6 and 7. Game one will be at the Tsongas Center at 7:15 p.m., while Saturday's game two in Amherst is set for 7:30 p.m.