SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Goals from four different skaters held propel the No. 17/19 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (11-8-1, 5-4-1 Hockey East) to a 4-2 victory over American International (10-8-5, 8-5-2 AHA) Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mass., at the MassMutual Center. With the win, the River Hawks finish their 2022-23 non-conference slate with a 6-4-0 mark.
Freshmen Nick Rhéauem (Trois Rivieres, Quebec) and Owen Fowler (Tewksbury, Mass.) both net goals in the tilt to register their second and third of the season, respectively. Defense accounted for half of the River Hawks' tallies today thanks to goals from senior Marek Korencik (Zilina, Slovakia) and junior Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.). With his lamp lighter, Meehan reignited the UMass Lowell power play unit with their first extra-man tally of the Near Year. Freshman Mitchell Becker (Rogers, Minn.) logged his first career point with the sole assist on Rhéaume's equalizer. Senior Carl Berglund (Hammaro, Sweden) ended the night with a team-high two points with two helpers in the contest. He now leads the team in scoring across all three categories with eight goals and nine assists for 17 points.
On defense, junior Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.) made a team-best two blocks to move to 37 on the year, just nine short of his career single-season high. Graduate student Gustavs Davis Grigals (Riga, Latvia) ended the night with 27 saves and a .934 save percentage to move to 6-4-1 on the season. He also played a vital role for the River Hawks on the penalty kill, stopping 17 shots on the PK to hold AIC to just two goals on six attempts.
The River Hawks put up quite the fight in front of the net despite staying scoreless through the opening frame. Junior Nik Armstrong-Kingkade (Mannheim, Germany), sophomore Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario) and Fowler led UMass Lowell in the first 20 with two shots each to start the day and keep Yellow Jackets' netminder Jarrett Fiske on edge with 10 shots to AIC's six. With the home squad looking to capitalize off forced turnovers in the neutral zone, Grigals' highly acrobatic goaltending kept all six Yellow Jackets' chances off the mark to send both teams into the intermission locked at zero.
Although the River Hawks came close to shattering the stalemate early with a good chance in the slot, the Yellow Jackets struck first in the matinee clash. Smacking one at the net on the man advantage, Grigals denied the initial shot from Blake Bennett. Following the stop, the puck slipped loose and slid out of Grigals's grasp to give AIC the 1-0 lead.
UMass Lowell retaliated quickly and emphatically, however, with three unanswered in less than three minutes to steal back the advantage. Chasing down the deficit, freshman Scout Truman (Lethbridge, Ontario) dashed into the zone looking to make a play, only to be tripped up by the Yellow Jackets just as he crossed the blue line. Regaining possession, AIC's Nico Somerville made moves to shift play back up ice for the Yellow Jackets with a dump pass off the glass. The puck took an unintended path to the stick of Becker in the neutral zone, allowing the freshman to center the puck in the slot. Rhéaume, quick to stay in the attacking position, grabbed the quick pass from his classmate and maneuvered it up and over Fiske's glove to level the score.
Invigorated by Rhéaume's snipe, UMass Lowell piled on the scoring. Just moments after restarting play, the River Hawks earned an opportunity to extend their lead thanks to a cross-checking call against the Yellow Jackets. Just seconds away from escaping the penalty kill, Meehan lit the lamp to give the River Hawks the lead. Though Meehan's first try was deflected by Fiske, the puck shot back out into play and into UMass Lowell's possession. Berglund, receiving a feed from Becker at the blue line, quickly passed to Kaiser for the redirect. Fiske easily made the kick save, but Meehan barreled down the weakside and stuffed in the loose puck for the 2-1 advantage.
Rounding out the high-scoring second period, Fowler added to the offensive onslaught with his third of the season. Winning the defensive zone faceoff, the River Hawks popped a pass into the neutral zone as they started their push. Chambers, going head-to-head with his defender, clipped a quick pass to Berglund along the boards to reposition himself for a shot. Unable to get one off before being directed past the goal line, Chambers passed back to Fowler. The freshman made a quick move and tapped the puck between Fiske's pads for the two-goal margin heading into the final 20 minutes of action.
Korenčik capped UMass Lowell's high-flying afternoon in Springfield early in the third period. A scuffle in front of the AIC net came up short, and the Yellow Jackets backhanded the puck free into open ice. Fast reflexes from Korenčik gave him the go-ahead to deke around his man and fire the unassisted shot clean past Fiske.
A tumultuous end to regulation put UMass Lowell's penalty kill to the test when the Yellow Jackets headed to the 5-on-3. In a back-and-forth frenzy, AIC clipped the lead back down to two with just two seconds left on the 5-on-3, only to have the tally called back due to goalie interference. Another wave of penalties knocked the River Hawks back down to 5-on-3 allowing AIC to earn back the disallowed goal, but UMass Lowell's productive second-period stand held steady to secure the road win.
The River Hawks return to Hockey East action when they hit the road for a two-game series with Maine next weekend, Jan. 13-14. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 7 p.m.
