LOWELL, Mass. - Senior goaltender Tyler Wall (Leamington, Ont.) stopped 38 of 40 shots to lead the No. 14 ranked UMass Lowell Hockey team to a 3-2 victory against Maine in the series finale in Hockey East play on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center.
The River Hawks improved to 7-2-3 overall (4-0-2 HEA) with the win, while Maine dropped to 5-3-2 overall and 2-2-2 in Hockey East play. UMass Lowell remains the only undefeated team in Hockey East play to date.
"It was almost playoff style hockey," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin. "You are very happy when you pick up points in Hockey East against a tough opponent, it was a hard fought battle. I am very proud of the guys, they showed some resiliency tonight since we didn't start the way we wanted. We got better as the game wore on and we had a hell of a response."
Maine tied the game up at 2-2 on a goal by Mitchell Fossier just 2:47 into the third stanza, but freshman forward Matt Brown (Wood Ridge, N.J.) got back the lead for the River Hawks just 1:36 later a he snuck the puck past Maine's Jeremy Swayman.
UMass Lowell responded with two goals early in the second period from freshman forward Carl Berglund (Hammaro, Sweden) and junior blueliner Anthony Baxter (Oakville, Ont.). Berglund's goal was his team-leading sixth goal of the season, while it marked Baxter's third career tally.
Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup opened the scoring in the game just 3:42 into the opening frame to give the Black Bears a 1-0 lead.
Wall amassed 14 saves in the opening period and the third frame in the victory for the River Hawks and it marked his fifth straight game with 30 or more saves. Swayman stopped 27 shots for the Black Bears in the losing effort.
Senior forward Colin O'Neill (Odenton, Md.) recorded a team-best four shots on goal for UMass Lowell. Junior forward Charlie Levesque (Russell, Ont.) and sophomore forward Lucas Condotta (Georgetown, Ont.) each won a game-high 13 face-offs for the River Hawks. Sophomore defenseman Jon McDonald (Livonia, Mich.) totaled a game-high four blocked shots.
The River Hawks were a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill on the night.
UMass Lowell returns to action on Friday, November 15th at UConn. Game time from the XL Center is 7 p.m. The game will be streamed nationally and internationally via CBS All-Access.
