HARTFORD, Conn. - Senior goaltender Henry Welsch (Lakeville, Minn.) made a career-high 46 saves, as the UMass Lowell hockey team (4-2-0, 1-1-0 Hockey East) earned a 1-0 shutout of Connecticut (3-4-1, 1-1-0 Hockey East) on Saturday at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
"Proud of our effort tonight," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "The guys found a way to finish the job tonight. We had a better, balanced attack with much better attention to detail. Some young guys are gaining valuable experience which will benefit them going forward."
Welsch's 46 saves are the most by a River Hawk goalie since the 2015-16 season, when Kevin Boyle made 58 saves in a triple overtime victory over Providence. Junior Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario) scored the lone goal of the matchup, giving him three on the year and seven total points. Defensively, sophomore TJ Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.) and senior Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.) led the way with five and three blocks, respectively.
It was a quiet first period on the scoring front, with no goals scored and 26 combined shots. Both goalies made some momentous saves throughout the period, especially Welsch, who corralled multiple clear UConn scoring opportunities. The River Hawks killed off the first Huskies power play of the game at the 4:21 mark and picked up one of their own towards the end of the period, but their two power play shots could not find the back of the net, bringing the game to the first intermission at 0-0.
The Huskies killed off the remainder of the River Hawks' power play to start the second and continued to put the pressure on Welsch and the UMass Lowell defense. The River Hawks started gaining momentum halfway through the period and had their first great scoring chance at the 8:11 mark, with junior Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.) zooming towards the goal, but UConn goalie Ethan Haider managed to get in front of his shot. Welsch followed that up with a sliding pad save at 8:31 to keep the game tied, allowing Cole to give the River Hawks the lead on the other end. He collected a loose puck in the middle of the offensive zone and fired a wrist shot past Haider and into the right side of the cage. The squad stayed aggressive to finish out the period, adding a few more scoring chances and limiting UConn's, carrying the 1-0 lead into the third period.
The Huskies had a hot start to the third, with one of their best chances to tie it up at 1:30. A quick pass in front of the net gave Jake Percival a wide-open left side of the goal, but Welsch slid over and made the stop with his pad. As the period went on, Welsch continued to play incredibly between the pipes, making save after save and stopping two rapid-fire shots in front of the net at 10:28 and 10:34, before the River Hawks got called for two penalties with 4:23 remaining in the game, giving the Huskies a 5-on-3.
UConn kept the puck in their offensive zone for what seemed like the entirety of the power play and fired off 10 shots, all saved by Welsch or disrupted by defensive unit. After the River Hawks successfully killed off the penalties, UConn pulled their goalie to get a man advantage, but it was not enough to pick up a tying goal, and the River Hawks earned the 1-0 shutout.
Next up, the team will travel to #3 Boston College on Friday, November 3 for game one of a two-game, home-and-home set at 7:00 p.m., before returning to the Tsongas Center for game two on Saturday, November 4 at 6:05 p.m.
