(Photo Courtesy of Jason Cooke) “UML Band prepares to preform throughout the home game against New Hampshire.”

Jason Cooke

Connector Editor

It looked as though the UMass Lowell men’s hockey team was riding a crescendo of momentum into Friday’s matchup with the University of New Hampshire, but the River Hawks were again reminded of the constant parity of Hockey East in a 2-0 defeat in front of 6,008 fans at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. 

UNH held a measly 26-25 shots on goal advantage, but it was the Wildcats who took advantage of their opportunities to hand Lowell its second blanking of the season.  

UMass Lowell (4-5-0, 2-3-0 HE) was 0-for-5 on the power play in what was the difference on Friday despite a strong showing in goal from netminder Austin Elliot, who made 25 saves.  

“It wasn’t the result we were looking for, obviously,” said head coach Norm Bazin. “You go into a game after a pretty nice effort last Saturday and you don’t have the same intensity. I think you win as a team and lose as a team, and today, we lost as a team.” 

UMass Lowell was less than a week removed from a big 5-1 win over Providence last Saturday entering Friday’s contest, but they couldn’t beat Kyle Chauvette, who impressed with 25 shots and was under fire on a plethora of UML power plays.  

Each team played to a scoreless first frame, but UNH opened the scoring at the 12:23 mark of the middle period on a goal by Cam McDonald. J.P. Turner flew into the slot with possession to set up the tally, sending a puck toward the direction of the net for a crashing McDonald, who beat Elliot on the doorstep to open the scoring.  

UNH put the finishing touches on the victory with an empty-net goal in the final minutes, as Ryan Philbrick sent the puck the length of the ice to double UNH’s lead. A lot will be up for grabs in Saturday night’s contest at UNH in UML’s last Hockey East clash until Dec. 5 when the River Hawks welcome Boston College to the Tsongas Center.