LOWELL, Mass. - The UMass Lowell River Hawks' (5-4-0, 2-1-0 Hockey East) winning streak was halted at four games and the Northeastern University Huskies (6-3-0, 1-2-0) stopped their own slide at two games as the Huskies downed the River Hawks, 4-2 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. Saturday night.
"It was a good hockey game overall. It was a game of momentum shifts and we didn't seem to seize any of the momentum," said River Hawks Head Coach Norm Bazin. "We scored two power play goals, and there were some good things in the game, but we'd score one and give up two - that's not a good recipe for success."
UMass Lowell got on the board as Adam Chapie (Oxford, Mich.) picked up his fourth of the season with the River Hawks' first power play goal of the night. Christian Folin (Gottenberg, Sweden) and Scott Wilson (Oakville, Ont.) chipped in the assists to give the home team the early 1-0 lead at 6:54 of the 1st period. The Huskies answered back, netting a pair in the first stanza as Derek Roy and Mike Szmatula gave Northeastern a 2-1 edge heading into the first break.
The River Hawks' power play continued to roll as Derek Arnold (Foxboro, Mass.) picked up the second power play tally of the game at 10:59 of the 2nd period. Again, Northeastern answered back with a pair, with Dalen Hedges scoring an even strength goal just 1:25 after Arnold's and Torin Snyderman closing the door with an empty netter in the waning seconds of the game to give the visiting Huskies their first Hockey East win of the young season.
UMass Lowell will return to action Tuesday with the first of three games on the road. The team will take on Princeton Tuesday at 7 PM before heading to Penn State Thursday and Friday, also at 7 PM. Northeastern will play a home-and-home series with New Hampshire Friday and Saturday.
RIVER HAWK STRONG NIGHT: UMass Lowell remembered the victims and honored the survivors and first responders of the Boston Marathon bombing with "River Hawk Strong Night" tonight prior to the game. Marathon bombing survivors Celeste and Sydney Corcoran of Lowell, Karen Rand of Somerville and Roseann Sdoia of Dracut were on hand for the dropping of the ceremonial first puck. They were joined on the ice by the first responders directly responsible for their personal rescues. A portion of the ticket sales from the game will support Boston Marathon bombing survivors through America's Fund and the UMass Lowell Boston Marathon Scholarship Fund.
Tickets for all River Hawks games are on sale now and can be purchased at the Tsongas Center Box Office, which is open Monday-Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM. Fans may also purchase tickets online at TsongasCenter.com or by contacting Andrew Ralph (andrew_ralph@uml.edu; 978-934-5749) or Joe Fellini (joseph_fellini@uml.edu; 978-934-5751).