LOWELL, Mass. - Senior forward Joseph Pendenza (Wilmington, Mass.) scored three points (2g,1a), including his 100th career point to lead the No. 8 ranked UMass Lowell men's hockey team to a convincing 6-1 victory against No. 7 Providence College on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center in front of a crowd of 6,051.
"It feels pretty good, but as much as it's an individual accomplishment, it's also a team accomplishment," said Pendenza. "I have played with some great players over my four years here, from Scott Campbell to Riley Wetmore to Matt Ferreira, those guys really helped me a lot building me into the player I am now."
Pendenza scored a shorthanded goal for his second tally of the game with 15:15 remaining in the game on a breakaway roofing the puck past Jon Gillies for his 100th career marker. He becomes the 42nd player in school history to accomplish the feat and the first River Hawk player since Riley Wetmore. Pendenza scored his 99th career point to open the scoring in the game at 5:24 of the first period, as he came down the right half wall and skated through the slot to beat Gillies low on his blocker side.
Sophomore defenseman Christian Folin (Gothenburg, Sweden) scored a career-high two goals in the game with the second coming on a slapshot from the right point at 11:32 of the final period. Sophomore forward Adam Chapie (Oxford, Mich.) fed him the puck from low in the right corner and Pendenza was credited with a secondary assist on the play. Folin finished the night tying a career-high with three points.
Senior goaltender Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) made his 11th start of the season for UMass Lowell, finishing the game with 27 saves, including 11 in the third period. Gillies was pulled from the game for the first time in his Friars career, making 14 saves in 51:32 of action. Nick Ellis came on in relief with two saves in 8:28 of play.
Ross Mauermann scored the lone goal on the night for the Friars at the 3:22 mark of the third period via the power play on a spin move in the slot. Freshman Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y.) capped off the game's scoring at 16:36 of the third period for his third goal of the season.
Folin gave the River Hawks a 2-0 lead with 2:47 left in the first frame, scoring on a wrist shot from outside the left circle. Evan Campbell (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) made it a 3-0 game heading into the dressing room after two periods on a goal from the low slot, after getting a feed from Michael Fallon from behind the Providence net. Christian Folin was also credited with an assist after he chipped the pick off the boards in his defensive zone.