LOWELL, Mass. - Junior F Josh Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored in the first period and junior G Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) stopped 28 shots as No. 6 UMass Lowell drew with Vermont, 1-1, before 6,711 Friday night in the Hockey East opener at the Tsongas Center.
UMass Lowell (0-0-1, 0-0-1 Hockey East) visits Colorado College Friday night (9:30 p.m. EST) and the University of Denver Saturday (9:00 p.m.) before returning home Friday, Oct. 26 to host No. 1 Boston College.
UMass Lowell's attendance was its highest draw for a home opener ever and the second largest in the team's history.
Holmstrom opened the scoring 17:28 into the first period when he took a pass from freshman F Michael Fallon (Glenview, Ill.) and flicked home in one motion for the lead.
Both teams had chances in the scoreless second period as Carr was at his best when he thwarted a shot by junior F Chris McCarthy, who one-timed a pass from sophomore F Kyle Reynolds. Immediately after, senior F Riley Wetmore (Swanton, Vt.) was denied by the post on a drive down the left side.
UMass Lowell did well to deny Vermont anything after junior Joe Houk (Richboro, Pa.) was assessed a game misconduct penalty, which included two minutes of 5-on-3.
The Catamounts got their equalizer, however, 11:17 into the third period when sophomore F Colin Markinson took a pass from sophomore D Michael Paliotta and raced down the right side to beat Carr inside the near post.
Freshman G Brody Hoffman impressed with 38 saves for Vermont.
UMass Lowell outshot Vermont 39-29.