Senior forward Joe Gambardella earned River Hawk of the Week honors for his play in the Dartmouth Tournament. (Christina Laderoute/Connector)
Kathryn Leeber
Connector Staff
UMass Lowell’s men’s ice hockey team will play the University of New Hampshire in Durham on Friday night.
Following two wins at the Dartmouth tournament this past weekend, as well as a win against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Tuesday night, the River Hawks are currently 13-5-3 overall and 6-3-1 for Hockey East Conference play.
The match up against the Wildcats will be a conference game where both teams look to improve their record. UNH is currently 9-7-2 and 5-1-1 in conference play.
During the River Hawks’ last game, 5 different UMass Lowell players scored, including sophomore forward Nick Master, who also assisted on John Edwardh’s goal.
Junior forward Jake Kamrass also scored and had an assist.
The River Hawks’ defense seemed to be steady, as they were able to hold Rensselaer from scoring until the second period.
Similarly, the team has shown great capabilities in utilizing power play opportunities. In this most recent game, 2 out of the River Hawks’ 5 goals came during power plays.
The Dartmouth Tournament also saw improvements in power play control. In the first game, there was only 1 goal out of 6 shots during power plays. Conversely, the next game saw 3 goals out of 4 shots throughout power plays.
Senior center Joe Gambardella was the tournament MVP having scored 2 goals and 5 assists. He has also scored in the last 4 games and will look to do so again against UNH. He continues to shine and provide solid leadership for the River Hawks.
Another key player is junior forward CJ Smith, who is just 1 point away from joining Gambardella in obtaining 100 career points.
This game will be the 114th meeting between the two teams, with the River Hawks winning 7 of the last 8 games.
The Wildcats have not played since December 30, in a 6-4 win against the University of Maine.
Senior forward Tyler Kelleher scored 2 goals and had 2 assists in this game and has sustained his lead in points and goals for his team this season.
Goaltender Danny Tirone is an even match with the River Hawk’s Tyler Wall. Tirone has a save percentage of .915 while Wall has .923. Both have been the main goaltenders for their team, showing control of the goal and an ability to utilize the defense.
The game will be televised on NESN, as well as on the River Hawk Radio Station, 980 AM.