Friday, November 17, 2006
NEW HAMPSHIRE UPENDS UMASS LOWELL, 5-2
Sophomore Jerry Pollastrone posts two goals and two assists for the Wildcats
Box Score

LOWELL, MA (Nov. 17, 2006) – Sophomore Jerry Pollastrone (Revere, MA) scored two goals and assisted on two others to lead the University of New Hampshire over UMass Lowell, 5-2, Friday night in a Hockey East clash in front of 3,603 at the Tsongas Arena.

With the loss, UML slipped to 3-4-3 overall and 2-2-2 in Hockey East while the Wildcats improved to 6-2-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the league.

The two rivals meet again Saturday night (7:00) at the Whittemore Center in Durham, NH. The Wildcats emerged from a 2-2 tie with three unanswered goals, including a pair of power play goals 5:33 apart late in the second period. UNH was 2-for-4 on its power play opportunities while UML was 0-for-8.

“UNH is certainly a very explosive offensive team,” said UML head coach Blaise MacDonald. “They play with a lot of grit. They won a lot of loose pucks against us and were very opportunistic. This is a team that is going to be one of the top teams in our league, no question.”

UML struck first when freshman Chris Auger (Bellville, ONT) scored his first collegiate goal 6:46 into the first period with help from seniors J.R. Bria (Monroe, CT) and Todd Fletcher (Chelmsford, MA).

The Wildcats scored a pair of goals just 26 seconds apart early in the second period as Pollastrone evened the score off a feed from sophomore Trevor Smith (North Vancouver, BC) 1:47 into the period while Smith scored from Pollastrone at 2:13.

“I thought we were in complete control of the game for a good portion of (the second period),” MacDonald said. “At one time the shots were 16-6 and we kind of let them back into the game with some inopportune penalties. They’re a great momentum team and we allowed them to be that in the second.”

Sophomore Mark Roebothan (St. John’s, NF) leveled for UML 6:09 into the period off passes from seniors Jason Tejchma (Muskegon, MI) and Jeremy Hall (Mays Landing, NJ).

Pollastrone scored UNH’s first power play goal at 14:59 and junior Mike Radja (Yorkville, IL) gave the Wildcats a 4-2 cushion on a power play at 19:32.

Junior F Matt Fortunato (Calgary, ALTA) capped the scoring 18:08 into the third period with help from Pollastrone and Smith.

The River Hawks built a 33-19 advantage on shots as freshman Carter Hutton (Thunder Bay, ONT) and sophomore Vinny Monaco (Andover, MA) combined for 14 saves.