University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
15-15-4, 12-10-2HEA
UMass Lowell
18-10-6, 12-7-5HEA
Huskies Drop 3-1 Decision at No. 12 UMass Lowell in Regular Season Finale
3/6/2020 10:20:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
LOWELL, Mass. – The UConn Huskies wrapped up the regular season on Friday night falling at No. 12 nationally ranked UMass Lowell, 3-1, at the Tsongas Arena. UConn sophomore Kale Howarth (Red Deer, Alberta) had the Huskies lone goal in the loss.
UConn ends the regular season with a 15-15-4 overall record and a 12-10-2 Hockey East mark. The Huskies will be on the road for the first round of the playoffs. UConn will await the result of Saturday's Boston University and Northeastern match-up to determine wether they are the #5 or #6 seed next week.
Penalties hurt the Huskies over the first two periods as UConn was sent to the box six times with UMass Lowell scoring twice to open a 2-0 lead. Andre Lee gave the River Hawks a 1-0 first period lead and Sam Knoblauch made it 2-0 midway through the second.
Howarth got the Huskies to within 2-1 at the 7:54 mark of the third with a power play goal and the Huskies pulled Vomacka late looking to tie. UML's Seth Barton scored on the empty net, whipping one around the boards and down the full ice to seal it, 3-1.
UML senior goaltender Tyler Wall made 31 saves to earn the win. UConn sophomore Tomas Vomacka (Trutnov, Czech Republic) stopped 23 on the night. The Huskies held a 32-26 edge on shots.
1st Period:
The Huskies outshot the River Hawks 13-9 in the first but took three penalties and UMass Lowell was able to capitalize. On their first power play chance of the night, UML took a 1-0 lead at the 6:07 mark on Lee's eight of the season. Breaking into the zone, Reid Stefanson fed Kenny Hausinger up the right wing who threw a centering pass to Lee breaking in and he deflected past Vomacka for a 1-0 lead.
2nd Period:
Penalties plagued the Huskies once again in the second period as UConn was sent to the box three more times and UMass Lowell again capitalized. Coming off a high-sticking call at 11:20, the River Hawks needed just seven seconds to score, as Knoblauch got his fourth coming off the ensuing face-off.
UML won the face-off in the zone as Carl Berglund won the draw back to Chase Blackman who fired on net from the high point. Knoblauch fought to the front of the net and was able to clean up the rebound right on top of Vomacka for a 2-0 lead.
3rd Period:
The Huskies got in on the scoring with a power play goal of their own to cut the lead to 2-1. UConn won a face-off in the UML zone and cycled the puck to sophomore Jachym Kondelik in the right circle who fired on net. Wall made the save but Howarth was sitting at the right post ready to clean up the rebound for his fourth on the season.
UConn got Vomacka off with 1:52 left for an extra skater looking to tie. UML tacked on an empty netter at 19:12 as Barton collected the puck in the right corner behind his net and fired it around the boards. The puck just got past a UConn defenseman and took a funny bounce off the boards, sliding into the empty net for a 3-1 advantage.
Up Next:
The Huskies move on to the Hockey East playoffs and will either be the #5 or #6 seed, depending on the result of the Boston University – Northeastern game on Saturday. A BU loss or tie gives UConn the #5 seed and sends the Huskies to Maine. A BU win will make UConn the #6 and puts them right back at UMass Lowell.
