Junior defenseman Dylan Zink scored the River Hawks’ lone goal on a first-period power play in the NCAA East Regional Final Saturday night at the Times Union Center (George DeLuca/Connector).

ALBANY, N.Y. — A second-period collapse against No. 1-ranked Quinnipiac cost the UMass Lowell River Hawks their shot at the Frozen Four and ended their season with a 4-1 loss Sunday night at the Times Union Center.

Despite the disappointing result, two UMass Lowell players were named to the East Regional All-Tournament team. Junior Dylan Zink was honored as a defenseman while junior Joe Gambardella was listed as a forward.

The River Hawks allowed four unanswered goals despite a strong showing in the first period. Quinnipiac proved tough to outplay, as they continually picked off UMass Lowell’s possession of the puck and shut the door in front of their netminder.

Throughout three periods of play, the River Hawks put only fifteen shots on goal.

“Their layers were tough to penetrate,” said Head Coach Norm Bazin.

Senior captain A.J. White said that part of the reason for the loss was that “[the River Hawks] overlooked some decent opportunities. [Quinnipiac] did a great job of getting in our shooting lanes and we just didn’t do a good enough job of getting the puck to the net.”

“I thought we passed up on a lot of shots. You just can’t do that against these guys,” said Coach Bazin.

One of the best opportunities of the night occurred when Zink streaked out of the penalty box midway through the second period and put a shot on net that zinged off of Quinnipiac senior goaltender Michael Garteig’s pads.

In a situation that paralleled Saturday’s win against Yale, the River Hawks scored first in the game. Zink let off a rocket of a shot during the first power play of the night that sailed over Garteig’s pads. It was just over three minutes into the game, and it produced a glimmer of hope in the hearts of River Hawks fans.

While the first period was played very well, with the River Hawks passing crisply and batting away rebounds on senior goaltender Kevin Boyle, the second period undid much of what was done in the first.

Quinnipiac played better than they had in the first, possessing the puck more and spending more time in their offensive zone. Unfortunately, UMass Lowell came up short with the task of matching them.

They allowed Quinnipiac to make scoring chances while shorthanded, and had an ineffective power play overall. On one particular power play during the third period, Quinnipiac was able to clear the puck out of their defensive zone three times.

“Yeah, there’s frustration throughout the night,” said Coach Bazin, regarding the River Hawk’s inability to penetrate their offensive zone and get some shots on net.

Quinnipiac scored two breakaway goals. The first such goal was started by a hit on sophomore forward C.J. Smith, which gave Scott Davidson an opportunity to peel the puck away. Davidson sniped a shot over Boyle’s left shoulder, and there was an unsettling feeling shared amongst Lowell fans dispersed throughout the 2,975 in attendance at the Times Union Center.

Unfortunately, Sunday night’s contest against Quinnipiac ended the collegiate careers of the winningest senior class in UMass Lowell program history.

“It’s a special group,” said Norm Bazin of his senior class. “There’s a good group of six seniors who have done a whole bunch for this program. The winningest class in program history, enough said. They did a great deal and they will be proud in the years to come.”

Despite the tough loss, Lowell fans still chanted “thank you seniors” after the game. That was not lost on White.

“It means a lot, especially to all the seniors. It’s a tremendous group that we had and it’s not just all of us, it’s the group that we had before us and the group we had this year. I’m thankful to be a part of everything that happened this year.”