University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
3-5-2, 2-3-1HEA
UMass Lowell
7-3-4, 4-1-3HEA
Huskies Go on the Road and Knock-off No. 12 UMass Lowell, 2-1
11/16/2019 8:33:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
LOWELL, Mass. – UConn got goals from senior Wyatt Newpower (Hugo, Minn.) and junior Brian Rigali (Libertyville, Ill.) and a 29 save night from sophomore Tomas Vomacka (Trutnov, Czech Republic) to go on the road and upset the No. 12 UMass Lowell River Hawks, 2-1, Saturday night at Tsongas Arena.
The Huskies win the Hockey East series and take three-points on the weekend. UConn improves to 3-4-2 overall and 2-3-1 in the league. The River Hawks fall too 7-2-4 and lose for the first time in Hockey East action and are now 4-1-3.
After a scoreless first period, Newpower gave the Huskeis a 1-0 lead in the second period and Rigali pushed it to 2-0 midway through the final period. Defensively, the Huskies were locked in on Saturday night keeping UMass Lowell off the board until late in the third while blocking 24 shots.
The River Hawks got a late power play in the third and pulled the goaltender for a 6-on-4 advantage. Jon McDonald delivered 1:01 left to cut the lead to 2-1 but UConn settled in over the final minute and put the game away.
UML had a 30-28 edge on shots while goaltender Tyler Wall made 26 saves.
1st Period:
The two teams picked up where they left off on Friday night, playing a scoreless first period. The Huskies held the edge on the shot chart, 10-8, and both teams came up empty on their one power play chance.
2nd Period:
The Huskies and River Hawks looked like they may be headed for another scoreless period before Newpower struck for his first on the season. UConn cleared the zone with freshman Vladislav Firstov (Yaroslavl, Russia) carrying to the left circle and firing on Wall. The goaltender made the pad save and Newpower corralled the rebound along the right half boards, turned and wristed one on net that fooled the netminder low and to the far post at the 14:25 mark for a 1-0 lead.
3rd Period:
The Huskies pushed their lead to 2-0 midway through the final period. Coming off a face-off in the UMass Lowell zone, the puck cycled to freshman defenseman Yan Kuznetsov (Murmansk, Russia) at the point who fired on Wall. Rigali got position right in front of the goaltender and was able to pounce on the rebound for his third on the season and a 2-0 lead at 9:52.
The Huskies killed off a pair of penalties and had to try and do it again when they were called for a cross check with 2:07 left. The River Hawks pulled Wall for the two-man advantage and were able to cut the lead in half as McDonald ripped one from high inside the blue line to just beat Vomacka with 1:01 left.
Up Next:
UConn will take on the Providence College Friars next weekend in an Hockey East home-and-home series. The Huskies will host the Friars on Friday night, November 22 and head to Schneider Arena on Saturday night, November 23.
