FINAL SCORE: No. 6 UMass Lowell 4, No. 19 Vermont 2
LOWELL, Mass. – Sixth-ranked UMass Lowell held off 19th-ranked Vermont for a 4-2 Hockey East victory on Saturday night at Tsongas Center to sweep a weekend series. UVM dropped to 4-3-1 (1-2-0 HEA), while the River Hawks improved to 6-2-2 (2-0-0 HEA).
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Box Score
Nick Master opened the scoring for the River Hawks on their first power play of the night at 5:51 of the first period. Ryan Lohin wristed a low pass to the top of the crease, and Master deflected the puck over the shoulder of
Mike Santaguida (20 saves) into the upper right corner.
UMass Lowell continued to press as Jake Kamrass hit the right post later in the frame, but the Catamounts kept the deficit at one.
Vermont began the second period strong with six of the first seven shots, but Lohin doubled the Lowell lead with another power play goal 11:10 into the frame. The rookie hunted a loose puck at the left edge of the crease following a shot pass from Dylan Zink, while Kamrass got a touch on the goal mouth for the primary assist.
Rob Darrar brought the Catamounts back within one with three minutes left in the period. The junior fired a shot on goal from the right circle and followed his own rebound, spinning home a low wrister to beat Tyler Wall (27 saves) for his second of the year. Freshman defenseman
Max Daigle collected the lone assist on the play.
UMass Lowell responded less than five minutes into the third as Kamrass delivered another power play tally for a 3-1 cushion. Joe Gambardella potted an insurance goal at 12:02, deking to his forehand to shed a UVM defenseman before finishing low around Santaguida's pad.
Vermont answered with a power play goal of its own with 3:33 left on the clock as
Brendan Bradley finished off a back door rebound with assists from
Mario Puskarich and
Rob Hamilton. The assist for Puskarich was the 50th of his collegiate career.
The Catamounts pulled Santaguida with two minutes to play but couldn't close the gap. UVM finished with a 29-24 edge in shots on goal and extended its streak of scoring at least one power play goal to eight straight games.
Vermont closes a four-game road trip next Saturday (Nov. 12) at 7 p.m. against UMass Amherst at the Mullins Center. Pre-game radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM with
Alastair Ingram and Andy Merritt on the call.
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 men's hockey season
