ESTERO, Fla. (Dec. 28, 2007) - Ben Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, Colo.) netted the game-winning goal, and UMass Lowell rallied to defeat Cornell, 3-2, Friday night in the first game of the 2007 Florida College Classic.
The River Hawks have won four in a row and six of the last seven, and improve to 8-4-4 with the win. Cornell is winless in its last three (0-2-1) and winless in four non-conference games (0-3-1). The Big Red falls to 4-5-1 with the loss.
In addition to Holmstrom, Mark Roebothan (St. John's, Nfld.) and Chris Auger (Belleville, Ont.) scored for the River Hawks. Michael Kennedy (Dorchester, Ont.) and Joe Scali (Coquitlam, B.C.) scored for the Big Red.
Roebothan opened the scoring with his ninth of the season at 4:12 of the first period to give UML a 1-0 lead. Fellow junior Mike Potacco (Kinnelson, N.J.) earned the only assist after tying up two Cornell defensemen in front.
Cornell scored the equalizer and took the lead in the second period. Kennedy scored the Big Red's first goal at 10:28 of the second with a wrist shot from the left face off circle. Topher Scott (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) created the play skating the puck into the zone and driving the UML defense back and setting up Kennedy with a drop pass.
Scali gave Cornell a 2-1 lead deflecting a shot in front of the net. Mike Devin (Scituate, Mass.) took the initial shot from the left point and got the primary assist. Former River Hawk Chris Fontas (Nashua, N.H.) had the second assist.
Trailing 2-1 after two, UML rallied for two third period goals to earn the one-goal victory. Auger evened the score at 4:52 of the final 20. After Jonathan Maniff's (Revere, Mass.) scoring chance was denied, Auger collected the loose puck behind the net and beat Cornell goaltender Troy Davenport (Inner Grove Heights, Minn.) with a wraparound shot from the left side of the net. Maniff and senior Kelly Sullivan (Beverly Hills, Mich.) had the assists.
Holmstrom netted the game-winning goal for UML at 11:33 of the third deflecting a Kory Falite shot in front of the net on the power play. Falite and Barry Goers (Ivyland, Pa.) had the assists.
Nevin Hamilton (Ashland, Mass.) made his fifth start in the last six games between the pipes for the River Hawks. The sophomore netminder stopped 23 Cornell shots to earn his fifth victory of the season.
Davenport made 21 saves, but took the loss in relief for Cornell. Ben Scrivens (Spruce Grove, Alb.) played the first 4:12 of the contest before being pulled. He made one save on two shots.
Cornell and UMass Lowell each had 25 shots in the game. UML was 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Big Red were 0-for-5 on the man-advantage.
The goal for Roebothan extended his point streak to six games. Potacco extended his point streak to four games with an assist.
The River Hawks play Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the championship game of the 2007 Florida College Classic. They play the winner of the Maine/Clarkson game. Cornell plays at 4:30 Saturday in the consolation game.