UMass Lowell hockey got off to a strong start, scoring a 3-0 exhibition win over St. Francis Xavier on Sunday afternoon. Riley Wetmore (Swanton, Vt.) and Michael Budd (Burlington, Ont.) each had a goal and an assist in the victory.
The River Hawks came out firing in the first, outshooting the X-Men 16-4. Freshman goaltender Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) turned away all four shots to hold a clean sheet over the first 20 minutes.
In the second, Wetmore broke the scoreless tie with a redirection off of Chris Ickert's (Abbotsford, B.C.) shot from the point. The offensive breakthrough came as UMass Lowell continued to apply pressure, outshooting St. Francis Xavier 12-6 in the middle frame.
The River Hawks put the game out of reach in the third, with a pair of goals from Derek Arnold (Foxboro, Mass.) and Budd. At 9:37, Matt Ferreira (Brampton, Ont.) stopped the puck along the boards in the neutral zone and Wetmore grabbed it as he passed through. Breaking in on the goaltender with speed, Wetmore dished to Arnold for the quick shot that beat Joseph Perricone (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) for the score.
Several minutes later, Budd buried a back-door pass from Joe Caveney (Fitchburg, Mass.) to put UMass Lowell up 3-0. Amid the third period offensive onslaught, both teams amassed lengthy time in the penalty box. The X-Men earned eight penalties for 40 minutes and the River Hawks had four penalties for 16 minutes.
Over the second and third periods, Michael Heffron (Malden, Mass.) and Marc Boulanger (Olds, Alta.) combined to stop 10 shots and finish the shutout Carr had started. The three goalies also blanked all three X-Men power plays.
For the game, UMass Lowell outshot St. Francis Xavier, 45-14.
With the exhibition game behind them, UMass Lowell opens to the 2010-11 season on the road next weekend, traveling to Orono, Maine on October 8 to battle the Black Bears at 7 p.m.