LOWELL, Mass - The UMass Lowell ice hockey team (14-8-3, 7-6-2 Hockey East) picked up three crucial points in the Hockey East standings Saturday evening, outscoring Merrimack (10-15-1, 6-9-1 Hockey East) at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass.
Graduate student Jack Robilotti (New York, N.Y.) scored the game-winner in his 150th career game, while sophomore Jak Vaarwerk (Clarence, N.Y.) and freshman Lee Parks (Ottawa, Ontario) scored the other two UMass Lowell goals. Six different players picked up assists in junior Mitchell Becker (Rogers, Minn.), senior Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario), senior Isac Jonsson (Ängelholm, Sweden), freshman Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.), graduate student Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.) and graduate student Ian Carpentier (Worcester, Mass.). Seven skaters collected at least one blocked shot as well, with Cole and graduate student Pierson Brandon (Irvington, N.Y) leading the way with three each. Junior Beni Halasz (Budapest, Hungary) got the win in net for the River Hawks, snagging 16 saves.
"I thought it was a challenging hockey game here tonight," said Bazin. "We needed a response, and we got it, and I thought the older guys in the room led the way. I liked the response. It's hard to get points in the Hockey East and we did what we had to do against a good team to get it done tonight."
The River Hawks controlled the game at the start, possessing the puck in their offensive zone for the majority of the period and threatening the Merrimack defensive unit. The penalty kill unit successfully killed off two Warriors power plays throughout the period, and the offense eventually cashed in with 57 seconds left. Delaney won a long race to the puck deep in the offensive zone and fed Vaarwerk, who skated behind the net and found Becker. Becker pushed the puck towards the middle, and it ricocheted back to the stick of Vaarwerk, and he blasted a slapshot to the back of the net to bring it to the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.
The second period started with two power play opportunities for the River Hawks, but it was Merrimack that tied it up while shorthanded on the second power play at 3:25. The River Hawks got back on the scoreboard with Parks' goal off a Meehan blocked shot five minutes later to give them the lead. Merrimack responded with a goal of their own at 11:22 to tie it up again, and that scored remained through the remainder of the second period. Cole and Robilotti each had scoring opportunities towards the end of the period on 2-on-1s, but Cole's shot was just barely saved by the blade of the goaltender's skate and Robilotti missed just wide.
It was another hot start for the River Hawks in the third, with Robilotti redeeming himself and scoring his second goal of the year just 1:57 into the period to give the River Hawks the lead once again. It started when Jonsson collected a Cole rebound and fed Robilotti at the blue line, who sent a rocket of a slapshot past the goaltender and into the net. The squad fought hard to limit the Warriors' scoring opportunities for the remainder, and they did just that, allowing just five shots on goal in the third period that were all corralled by Halasz, and the game concluded with the score at 3-2.
Next the River Hawks will return to the Tsongas Center on Friday, February 7 to take on Vermont, before heading to UConn the next day to conclude the weekend.
