Thursday at Merrimack: Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Listen
Saturday vs. Boston University: Live Stats | NESN+ | Watch (ESPN+) | Listen
LOWELL, Mass. – After a week of rest, the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (12-20-0, 8-14-0 Hockey East) returns to close out the regular season against Merrimack (16-15-2, 9-12-2 Hockey East) and Boston University (16-15-2, 12-11-0 Hockey East). The River Hawks will travel to Merrimack on Thursday, March 5 at 7:00 p.m., before hosting Boston University for the regular season finale and Senior Night on Saturday, March 7 at 6:05 p.m.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell entered the 2025-26 season coming off an 16-16-4 campaign that saw the River Hawks enter the Hockey East Tournament as the #7 seed. The team has graduated a handful of players and have bolstered their lineup of 14 returners with 15 newcomers, including three transfers and 12 freshmen. Of those transfers, one is graduate student, one is a senior and one is a sophomore. The team kicked off the 2025-26 season tied for the seventh spot in the Hockey East Preseason Poll with 53 points. At the moment, they are not recieving votes in the USCHO or USA Hockey Polls. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.
UMass Lowell enters this weekend after a bye week, last playing on February 20 and 21 against Northeastern. The River Hawks fell, 2-0, in game one and 8-2 in game two. Lee Parkas led the team with two points on the weekend on a goal and an assist.
At the moment, Bentley leads the squad with 22 points (13g, 9a), while
Jak Vaarwerk (6g,12a) and
Dalyn Wakely (6g, 12a) are tied in second with 18 each.
Samuel Richard leads the goaltenders with a 2.84 GAA to go along with his .904 save percentage in 16 appearances, while
Austin Elliott holds a 2.96 GAA with a .886 save percentage in 21 appearances.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
The Warriors enter the weekend with an 16-15-2 overall record (9-12-2 Hockey East), most recently going 1-0-1 against Vermont last weekend with a shootout win.
Merrimack is coming off a 2024-25 season year where they finished 13-21-1 (9-14-1 Hockey East), falling to Northeastern in the Hockey East First Round. They return four of their top five point-scorers from 2024-25 in Seamus Powell, Caden Cranston, Nick Pierre and Ty Daneault. Powell led the team with 21 points (5g, 16a), while Cranston (7g, 10a) was just behind him with 17 and Pierre (5g, 11a) was fourth with 16 and Daneault (6g, 9a) was fifth with 15. For goaltenders, the team returns Max Lundgren and Ryan Keyes from last yearÌs roster. Lundgren appeared in 24 games last season, collecting a 2.90 GAA and .909 save percentage with an 8-13-0 record. Keyes made five appearances with a 2.22 GAA and .920 save percentage while going 1-1-1.
This season, Parker Lalonde (12g, 19a) leads the team with 31 points, while Justin Gill (14g, 16a) is just behind him with 30. Trevor Hoskin (10g, 19a) sits in third with 29 points. Max Lundgren has played and started in all games for the Warriors, boasting a 2.68 GAA and .915 save percentage in 33 games.
UMASS LOWELL VS. MERRIMACK
The River Hawks have seen a lot of Merrimack throughout program history, registering an 87-46-13 (.640) all-time mark against the Warriors. The two teams last played on October 10, 2025, when Merrimack picked up a 4-1 victory.
UMASS LOWELL VS. BOSTON UNIVERSITY
The River Hawks have seen a lot of Boston University throughout program history, registering a 38-83-12 (.331) all-time mark against the Terriers. The two teams last played on January 17, 2026, when the Terriers picked up a 3-0 victory.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
When Lowell scores 3 goals or more, they are now 12-3-0 this season, and 237-46-17 since Norm Bazin took over. When they score 2 goals or less, they are 0-17-0 this season, and 53-159-30 under Norm.
On the flip side, when Lowell allows 3 goals or more they are 3-14-0 this season and 50-165-17 under Norm, When they allow 2 goals or less they are 9-6-0 this season, and 240-40-30 under Norm.
CAREER BESTS
Dillan Bentley has 13 goals this season. His career best was 9, set last season. His 4 power play goals is a career best, topping the 3 he had as a sophomore. His 22 points bests his career high of 16 from last season.
Mirko Buttazoni's 4 goals is just 1 shy of the 5 he scored last season as a freshman.
Libor Nemec has 10 assists this season, topping the 6 he had last season as a freshman. His 13 points bests the 12 he had last season.
T.J. Schweighardt has 4 goals this season. He had 2 over his 1
st 3 years combined. His 11 assists eclipses his career high of 10 that he had last season as a junior. His 15 points is a career high, topping the 10 he had last season.
Jak Vaarwerk has 6 goals thus far, topping the 5 he had in each of his freshman and sophomore seasons. He has 3 power play goals this season after only scoring once on the man-advantage in his first 2 seasons. His 18 points exceeds to career high of 16 he had last season. His 12 assists beats the career high of 11 he set last season.
Sean Kilcullen has 3 goals and 4 assists this season. He had 0 goals and 2 assists in his first 2 seasons combined.
Chris Delaney's 13 assists easily passed the 9 he had as a freshman last season.
Lee Parks now has 8 assists, edging past the 6 he had as a freshman last season.
AT THE DOT
UMass Lowell currently ranks 33rd in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend's slate. The River Hawks have won 951 of their 1,908 faceoffs taken for a .498 faceoff win percentage through their first 32 games.
IN THE POLLS
At the moment, the River Hawks are not receiving votes in the USCHO or USA Hockey Polls. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.
A WIN TODAY..
A win today would move the River Hawks to a 13-20-0 record on the season and a 88-46-13 record all-time against the Warriors. Head Coach Norm Bazin would also move to a 19-12-5 career mark against Merrimack. A win against Boston University on Saturday would move the River Hawks to a 39-83-12 mark against the Terriers, while bringing Coach Bazin to a 21-16-4 mark.
UP NEXT
Next up, the River Hawks will set their sights on the Hockey East Tournament, where they could wind up as the 8-11 seed, depending on this weekend's results. The Opening Round will take place on Wednesday, March 11.
