Senior forward Carl Berglund scored in overtime for the River Hawks
Berglund Lifts UMass Lowell Past UConn in Overtime, 3-2
Senior forward Carl Berglund scored in overtime for the River Hawks

Box Score - Highlights

LOWELL, Mass.-Two goals from senior Carl Berglund (Hammaro, Sweden) clinched a thrilling 3-2 overtime upset for the No. 13/14 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (8-4-0, 5-2-0 Hockey East) over No. 7/8 Connecticut (9-2-3, 6-2-2 HEA) in front of a lively crowd of 4,208 at the Tsongas Center Friday night.

"We're obviously very happy with the results. I thought it was a very good hockey game by both teams. It was very evenly matched. There seemed to be a response every time we scored," commented Head Coach Norm Bazin. "There are a few things to work on. Obviously, we had a few power play attempts here I thought we were a couple of seconds away from getting a few looks on. I think we scored when the power play had just ended. Overall, I thought the goaltending was strong, and the depth of the bench was tested today."

Behind Berglund's team-high two points, seven other River Hawks picked up points against the Huskies. Senior Jake Stella (Karlstad, Sweden) scored the opening goal of the night just 58 seconds into the game off helpers from defensemen Jon McDonald (Livonia, Mich.) and Marek Korencik (Zilina, Slovakia). Graduate student Filip Fornåå Svensson (Linköping, Sweden) and senior Brian Chambers (Weymouth, Mass.) earned assists on Berglund's second-period goal, while defenseman Isac Jonsson (Ängelholm, Sweden) and senior Zach Kaiser (Orangeville, Ontario) earned points off their assists on the Swedish forward's overtime winner. With a credit on the sudden death lamp-lighter, Kaiser extended his current point streak to four-straight games.

Between the pipes, graduate student Gustavs David Grigals (Riga, Latvia) stopped a season-high 34 shots to earn the win and move to a 3-2-0 season mark.

Stella sparked UMass Lowell's offense in the opening minute. After regaining possession after a UConn shift in the River Hawks' defensive zone, Korencik sent the puck around to McDonald behind the net. McDonald pushed a stretch pass across both blue lines to Stella sitting just behind the Huskies' defense. The senior earned the edge on his man and knocked in the first of the night to get the River Hawks on the right side of the scoresheet.

A defensive duel, the remainder of the period was marked by a back-and-forth battle for possession. Grigals stayed untouched in the first, knocking down all 14 Huskies' chances in the opening frame. The Latvian-born goalie reacted quickly between the pipes to deny the second touch from UConn, especially off the cross-ice pass.

Kaiser eyed an extension to his active point streak early. Cole sent a perfectly placed cross to Kaiser, who fired off a hard shot off the right pad of UConn's Logan Terness into empty ice. Sophomores Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.) followed up Kaiser's firm chance from the point with a zinger in the slot, but Terness gloved down the shot.

Coming off a two-point night at Boston College earlier in the week, sophomore Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario) forced a turnover and went for the breakaway chance. Cole was unable to shake his quickly advancing defender, however, who stretched for the poke check to squelch the potential goal opportunity. UMass Lowell laid heavy pressure high in the zone to try to bolster their lead heading into the break, but the River Hawks headed into the break holding onto the one-goal advantage.

The River Hawks' offense stayed hot off the opening draw in the second. Freshman Owen Fowler (Tewksbury, Mass.) chased a loose puck early and went for the wraparound on a stretch but couldn't find an open space. Kaiser tested Terness with back-to-back attempts off the pad, but both shots were ultimately deflected by the Huskies' defense.

In his first game back since the River Hawks' 2-0 win over Vermont, Fornåå Svensson put a wrister on net during a UMass Lowell power play that missed just left and smacked off the pipe to shut down the forward.

Four minutes into the period, UConn leveled the score at 1-1 thanks to a shot from Chase Bradley. Minutes later, Berglund ended his two-game scoring drought with a one-timer in the slot. Chambers pressured his man along the boards and tapped a lucky touch to Fornåå Svensson right behind the net. The winger tapped a centering pass up the slot to Berglund for the quick shot to retake a 2-1 lead with just under 13 minutes left in the frame.

UConn forced another tie with just under three minutes left to play in the second period. Huskies' center Tristan Fraser won the faceoff just to the right of Grigals, pushing it straight back for Nick Capone. The 6-2 winger fired in a quick shot past Grigals to close out the middle block all locked up at 2-2.  

Possession see-sawed back-and-forth throughout the third as the teams chased down a game-winner. The Huskies and the River Hawks stayed neck-and-neck in both faceoff wins and shots on goal through the remainder of regulation, but the scoreless third forced extra time at the Tsongas Center.

The Huskies nearly stole the win from the River Hawks early into play off a two-man rush, but Grigals robbed UConn of the game-winner with an incredible kick save on the wraparound attempt. With just over a minute to spare before moving to a shootout, Berglund called the game and earned UMass Lowell two hard-earned points with a beautiful snipe to cement the 3-2 decision.

The River Hawks cap their three-game week tomorrow afternoon when they travel to the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., to close out their series with UConn. Puck drop is slated for 3:35 p.m.