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River Hawks sweep UNH in home-and-home series

Marlon Pitter

Connector Editor

Sophomore forward Chris Maniccia’s hat trick served as a catalyst for UMass Lowell’s 8-2 win over the University of New Hampshire at the Tsongas Center Saturday night.

The River Hawks outscored the Wildcats in a home-and-home series over the weekend, 10-2, despite being outshot 62-37.

Special teams played a large role in the River Hawks’ home victory, as the team scored two power play goals on six opportunities, while keeping the Wildcats off the scoreboard during their two power plays, which included a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:28 in the second period.

Head Coach Norm Bazin said that the team’s power play efficiency was an area of focus going into Saturday’s game.

“It’s certainly an area we need to improve, and I’m thankful that the guys were able to finally execute on it,” said Bazin.

Sophomore forward Evan Campbell and Maniccia opened the scoring with a power-play and even-strength goal, respectively, at 9:15 and 9:50 in the first period.

Maniccia’s scoring continued with unassisted goals at 17:57 in the first period and 13:21 in the third period, as well as an assist on Ryan Collins’ goal at 15:00 in the third.

Forward Michael Colantone and defensemen Zack Kamrass and Jake Suter joined the offensive effort, each tallying two points in the River Hawks’ 8-2 win.

Junior goaltender Kevin Boyle earned his second career shutout in a 33-save effort against New Hampshire Friday night at the Whittemore Center in Durham. His first shutout came as a member of the UMass Minutemen in November 2012, in which he made 17 saves en route to a 4-0 victory over Providence College.

Freshman goaltender Jeff Smith, who started Saturday night, said Boyle’s strong play in net Friday night gave the team momentum going into the following game.

“He played awesome last night. … It just [built] up a little bit of fuel for today,” said Smith.

The River Hawks’ goals were scored by junior forward A.J. White and freshman John Edwardh, who scored his first career goal as with UMass Lowell at 16:40 in the first period Friday night.

Maniccia’s assist on Edwardh’s goal was his first of five points over the weekend (three goals, two assists).

UMass Lowell’s eight goals Saturday night are the most scored as a team since their November 2012 8-2 win over UMass at the Mullins Center in Amherst.

The River Hawks improved their record to 3-0-0 in Hockey East play and 5-1-1 overall, while the Wildcats fell to 0-2-0 in Hockey East, with an overall clip of 2-4-0.

UMass Lowell will take on the Northeastern Huskies in a home-and-home series, beginning Friday at the Tsongas Center and then Saturday at Matthews Arena in Boston.

Marlon Pitter is a former editor-in-chief of the UMass Lowell Connector. Hailing from Hartford, Conn., he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in journalism and professional writing and a digital media minor in 2017. Follow him on Twitter @marlonpresents.