University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
20-12-3
UMass Lowell
18-14-3
UConn Ousted by UMass Lowell In Hockey East Quarterfinals
3/11/2023 6:51:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
STORRS, Conn. – UMass Lowell graduate student goaltender Gustavs Davis Grigals turned in a 40 save night as the River Hawks knocked off the No. 19 ranked UConn Huskies, 2-1, Saturday night in a Hockey East Quarterfinal match-up at Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs.
The No. 5 seeded River Hawks got a pair of first period goals from Blake Wells and Owen Cole and fought off a furious late game rally by the No. 4 seeded Huskies to come away with a win and move on to the Hockey East Championship weekend at TD Garden in Boston.
Grigals was impressive all night, stopping 13 in both the first and second periods and 14 in the final stanza and was 1:29 away from a shutout before UConn's Nick Capone (East Haven, CT) poked one in to cut the lead in half. The netminder earned his 12th win as UMass Lowell improves to 18-14-3 on the season.
UML got their first at 8:51 in the first period as Ben Meehan broke up the left boards and threw the puck to the front of the net where Wells beat the defense to redirect it home for a 1-0 lead on his second goal of the season. The River Hawks made it 2-0 at 14:35 on a great individual effort from Cole. UConn goaltender Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) tried to glove a shot coming in but got tangled up and then failed clear as loose puck slid into the slot area where Cole flew in to poke home a shot while diving to ice for his sixth of the season.
The Huskies, who outshot the River Hawks 41-17 in the loss, continued to pressure UMass Lowell throughout the second and third but couldn't solve Grigals. His finest save of the night came with 15:22 left in the third when after making an initial save, gloved a point blank shot from Matthew Wood (Nanaimo, British Columbia) on the doorstep.
With the goaltender off in the waning minutes the Huskies finally broke through with 1:29 left as Capone poked in his ninth of the year out of a scrum in front. After a review, the goal stood, cutting into the lead, 2-1. UConn got the goaltender off for the final minute but couldn't get any shots through to Grigals as the River Hawks held on for a 2-1 advancing win.
The Huskies season comes to a close with the loss as they finish the 2022-23 campaign at 20-12-2 overall.
