(Photo courtesy of UMass Lowell) River Hawk forward Ryan Brushett skates with the puck during Wednesday night’s game
Matt Micale
Connector Editor
The nationally ranked 19th seed River Hawks skated to a 3-3 tie in their latest game Wednesday, Nov. 3, against the Sharks of Long Island University. At the end of regulation, the game went into a five-minute overtime, but neither team was able to score and secure the win.
This tie came after back-to-back wins against Boston University two weekends ago. With those wins, the River Hawks were able to become nationally ranked, securing a spot as the 19th best team in the country. Lowell currently has a record of 4-1-2.
Wednesday night’s game at the Tsongas Center started with some quality scoring chances for the River Hawks. Forwards Brian Chambers and Nik Armstrong-Kingkade both had solid shots on net about 10 minutes into the first period. However, LIU was the first team to score with PJ Marrocco making a wrist shot with five minutes left in the first period, silencing the crowd. The assists on the goal came from Marty Westhaver and Jake Stevens.
Shortly after the goal, a hold by the Shark’s Billy Jerry gave Lowell a power play. Although Lowell was able to apply good pressure and create chances, they were unable to get on the board. Lowell then returned the favor with a late first period hold. Although the River Hawks were able to kill the penalty for the remainder of the first period, Shark’s Spencer Cox with assists from Jerry and Jordan Timmons netted a shot early in the second period during the remaining power play time putting the Sharks up 2-0.
Just past the midpoint of the second period, Lowell got their first goal during a power play. River Hawk forward Ryan Brushett scored his second goal of the year cutting the Shark’s lead to 2-1. The assist was from Nick Austin and Carl Berglund.
The River Hawks were able to score another goal before the end of the second period. Forward Connor Sodergren scored with around four minutes left in the period marking his first goal of the season. The period ended with a score of 2-2.
The third period began with River Hawk goalie Henry Welsch pushing aside shots from pressure from Long Island. Lowell was then able to capitalize on another power play with forward Lucas Condotta scoring early into it, giving the the River Hawks their first lead of the night at 3-2.
A five-minute major was eventually called on Condotta for boarding. An injured LIU player was led to the locker room after the hit. LIU was on the attack for the duration of the power play, but Lowell was able to kill the power play successfully.
With only a minute and a half left in regulation, the Sharks pulled their goalie for a sixth skater and LIU’s Jack Quinn was able to score on Welsch with just over a minute left. This goal tied the game at 3-3 and pushed the game into overtime.
Although both sides had some solid scoring opportunities during the five-minute overtime period, neither was able to put one in the net. The game ended after the overtime resulting in a tie.
On the team’s performance, River Hawk head coach Norm Bazin said, “Power play was good, couple of looks and a couple of goals. I thought that was a step forward for our team. I wasn’t displeased with the goaltending. I don’t think he saw either one. So, it was one of those situations where I’ll take those power play looks, I’ll take the step forward in that department.”
The River Hawks will have some time to rest this week. Their next games will against Northeastern on Friday Nov. 12, and against Boston College on Saturday Nov. 13. Both games will be on home ice at the Tsongas Center.