The River Hawks defeated the Colorado College Tigers 3-2 Friday night at the Tsongas Center. (Photo courtesy of UMass Lowell Athletics)
Two power play goals and 55 shots on goal helped ninth-ranked UMass Lowell earn a 3-2 win over Colorado College Friday night at the Tsongas Center, improving to 2-0 on the season.
UMass Lowell senior forward Ryan McGrath scored the game-winning goal on a shot from the point with 2:44 left in the third period. McGrath said the team changing their attack strategy helped lead to getting the puck in the net.
“We knew coming into the game that we’re playing a good goaltender, and we kinda harped in the intermission that he’s strong down low, so get the puck up as much as you can,” said McGrath. “Like I said, lucky it went in for me.”
Special teams played a key role in the River Hawks’ victory. UMass Lowell managed to score two goals on seven chances with the man advantage, while successfully killing four penalties.
Colorado College freshman goalie Jacob Nehama stymied the River Hawks at even strength, making 52 saves and keeping the Tigers in the game. Junior forward Joe Gambardella said there was not any frustration setting in on the side of the home team, however.
“The goalie played really well. We got some net traffic in front and we knew we’d have to keep plugging away and one of them would bounce in, and they did, luckily,” he said.
Tigers forward Trevor Gooch opened the scoring at 4:29 in the first period as a result of a UMass Lowell turnover in their defensive zone.
The River Hawks responded less than four minutes later, with a power play goal from Gambardella eight minutes into the opening frame. Forwards Michael Louria and Nick Master assisted on Gambardella’s rebound effort.
Master later found the back of the net himself, breaking a 1-1 tie with a power play goal at 7:33 in the second period, the first goal of his River Hawk career.
The River Hawks put 17 shots on goal compared to 8 for the Tigers but hit the back of the net only once in the first 20 minutes. They found their stride in the second period, peppering Nehama with 24 shots on goal.
“I think they were doing a great job at keeping us to the outside. In the second period, if I’m not mistaken, we had 24 shots, which is plenty, usually more than enough to score a couple,” said Head Coach Norm Bazin.
Even with the River Hawks applying pressure on both sides of the puck, Tigers forward Cody Bradley managed to score on a breakaway at 7:50 in the third period to tie the game at 2-2.
The team picked up their offensive play while locking the Tigers down defensively, allowing only 18 shots through the entire game, with goaltender Kevin Boyle stopping 16 of them. Bazin said the team defense was decent, but will have to steady to continue competing at a high level.
“Sometimes the shot count can be a little deceptive, so we’ll have to look at it on film because I think they had some quality chances within those 18,” said Bazin.
The River Hawks return to the Tsongas Center to face Colorado College again Saturday night at 7 p.m.
