AMHERST, Mass. — Games between UMass and UMass Lowell over the last few years have almost routinely been scheduled wins for the River Hawks. Over the last 19 meetings. UML had a 17-1-1 record vs. the Minutemen — including an eight-game win streak — but Saturday night at the Mullins Center, UMass bucked that trend, beating the River Hawks, 3-0.
“Before the weekend, I told the group that I think we were ready to take a step forward,” Minutemen coach Greg Carvel said. “To beat Lowell … it’s a big step forward (and) a real solid 60-minute effort for our group.”
A day after storming back to tie Boston University 3-3 on the road, UMass followed up with a lockdown performance on home ice, with Minutemen freshman goaltender Matt Murray turning aside an even 30 shots to record his third shutout of the season.
“It’s really high,” Murray said about his confidence level. “Coach gave me an opportunity to play, and I feel like I’ve earned my minutes. Every shutout is a team victory. The guys out in front of me did a phenomenal job keeping most of the shots to the outside and cleaning up in front of the net.”
UML never seemed to have gotten its gears completely in motion as it fell for the second straight evening and only took away one point out of four possible points in a weekend that holds critical stock in the Hockey East standings.
“I thought it was a good hockey game,” River Hawks coach Norm Bazin said. “Not the result we were looking for. However, the opponent played well, kudos to them, and systematically I thought we executed most of the stuff we wanted to.”
UMass scored first, a feat the Minutemen have now accomplished in three consecutive games, when sophomore Niko Hildenbrand swept in a loose puck at 6:48 of the first period. Following sophomore defenseman Jake McLaughlin’s slap shot out high, the puck bounced up and over UML goalie Chris Hernberg and into the crease, where Hildenbrand came crashing in and slid it over the goal line.
Hildenbrand, along with freshman Philip Lagunov, scored empty-netters late in the third period to seal UMass’ first shutout over the River Hawks since Nov. 24, 1970.
“Any time that you shut out a team like Lowell, a hard-nosed, gritty team that throws everything they can at the net, to be able to shut out a team like that, I think it goes to show just how hard the guys were tonight,” Hildenbrand said. “We came with the right mentality, and we executed tonight.”
Although outshot, 30-25, by UML, the Minutemen allowed the River Hawks limited top-end scoring chances throughout the contest and prevented UML from capitalizing on all three of their power-play opportunities.
“I thought (in) the first period we were very good, scored the goal, didn’t think it’d be the only goal of the game, but we played real solid for 60 minutes,” Carvel said. “I don’t think either team had a ton of momentum at any time. We checked well, played heavy, and competed well.”
