Massachusetts-Lowell extended its unbeaten streak to eight and claimed its first Hockey East win of the season with a 4-3 victory over visiting Massachusetts at Tsongas Arena Friday night.
With the River Hawks leading by a goal after two periods, Minuteman Marvin Degon evened the score at 3 just 27 seconds into the third period with his second power-play goal of the game. But Brian Bova’s tally at 11:43 sealed the win for the River Hawks. René Gauthier set up Bova’s fifth goal of the year.
“UMass plays very good against us. We struggled mightily starting from our defense. They put a lot of pressure on us, forced us into a lot of turnovers,” UML coach Blaise MacDonald said. “To come out of here with a win is very fortunate on our part.”
After a scoreless first period, UML’s Danny O’Brien netted his fifth goal of the season to put the River Hawks up 1-0 at 6:43 of the second. Juniors Brad King and Kim Brandvold assisted on the play.
Degon tied the game 1-1 at 9:22 with his first goal on the night. Stephen Werner put the Minutemen up 2-1 at 16:43, but the River Hawks answered with two quick goals to close out the period.
King netted a power-play score with help from Jason Tejchma at 18:26, then Tejchma notched a four-on-four goal at 18:43. Cleve Kinley and newcomer Jeremy Hall set up Tejchma’s fifth goal of the year.
Freshman goaltender Peter Vetri made 17 saves for the River Hawks en route to the victory, while Massachusetts’ Gabe Winer stopped 12 shots. UML was 1-5 on the power play while the Minutemen were 2-4.
The River Hawks improved to 10-5-2 overall (1-5-2 Hockey East) on the year, while Massachusetts dropped below .500 at 10-11-1 (4-6-1 Hockey East).
