Massachusetts Hockey Edged By #18/19 UMass Lowell

LOWELL, Mass. – An unassisted goal midway through the second period proved to be the lone tally of the night as University of Massachusetts hockey came up on the short end of a 1-0 score at #18/19 UMass Lowell on Friday evening at Tsongas Arena. With the setback, the Minutemen fall to 9-13-3 (3-11-1 HE), while the River Hawks improve to 15-9-1 (9-5-1 HE).

"I actually thought that was one of our better games in this building," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "To me it was a coin toss game. The game was really even. The difference in the game was we turn the puck over in our own zone and it goes crossbar down. We hit a couple crossbars and they went out. Lowell did a nice job once they got the lead of really playing good strong defensive hockey, but I thought our guys came ready to play. I liked our first period. It's tough to score against Lowell and we're a little challenged to score right now. I thought (Luke) Pavicich played well. We did a pretty good job in front of him, let him see the game, let him see the shots. Even game, it just didn't go our way."

Both teams had quality scoring chances in the first, including a UMass Lowell breakaway around the 10-minute mark that Massachusetts netminder Luke Pavicich managed to turn aside, and went into the first intermission in a scoreless deadlock.

At the 8:04 mark of the second period, Dillan Bentley carried the puck into the slot and fired a shot that went bar down over Pavicich to put the River Hawks in front, 1-0.

In the final seconds of the frame, graduate student Matt Koopman beat Gustavs Davis Grigals with a backhander, but it rung off the post just before the buzzer.

The Minutemen hit iron again just past the five-minute mark of the third as sophomore Ryan Lautenbach narrowly missed the equalizer.

UMass Lowell finished the night with a 37-28 shot advantage. Both teams were 0-for-2 on the power play. Pavicich logged 36 saves for Massachusetts and Grigals had 28 stops for the River Hawks.

The Minutemen will next travel to No. 17/16 Providence for a Friday night matchup against the Friars on February 3 at 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Lucas Mercuri

Ryan Ufko

Cal Kiefiuk

Cole O'Hara

Players Mentioned

Matt Koopman

Ryan Lautenbach

Luke Pavicich

Scoreboard

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