River Hawks fall prey to chasing game
Merrimack edges Umass Lowell in Hockey East clash
LOWELL >> Securing home ice in the upcoming Hockey East tournament just got a little tougher for the River Hawks.
Mac Welsher netted the gamewinning goal midway through the third period, as the Umass Lowell hockey team fell to Merrimack, 5-3, Friday night in front of 5,025 faithful at the Tsongas Center.
A senior winger, Welsher backhanded a rebound of a Mike Brown blast past UML goalie Gustavs Davis Grigals with 10:51 left in regulation.
UML falls to 16-12-3, 10-8-3 Hockey East. The River Hawks are in fourth place, one point ahead of Uconn, with three regular-season games left. Merrimack (19-12-1, 14-8-0 HE) snuck into second place.
“I thought it was a good hockey game tonight,” said Umass Lowell head coach Norm Bazin, who fell to 17-9-4 against Merrimack. “I think we got caught chasing for a bulk of it. We pre-scouted them last weekend and they did this to (Boston University) twice and it’s exactly what we wanted to avoid. It usually doesn’t lend itself to good results and we proved that tonight and proved it last weekend also.”
A six-point snag for the River Hawks would have helped their quest for home ice advantage in the Hockey East playoffs. But despite the setback, Bazin still liked how his team responded.
“I liked our resiliency,” said Bazin. “But it takes a lot out of you playing a chasing game, and it’s not a recipe for success in Hockey East with all these good teams.”
It didn’t take long for Merrimack to get moving. Sophomore center Matt Copponi potted his team-leading 13th goal off the first shot of the game, just 1:51 into the contest. Linemates Ottoville Leppanen and Alex Jefferies picked up the helpers. And when Jordan Seyfert scored off a Brown blueline blast, the War
riors held the 2-0 lead midway through the stanza.
The River Hawks offense emerged moments later. Freshman TJ Schweighardt keyed the comeback by cashing in off the crisp playmaking of Carl Berglund and Owen Fowler at 11:39.
The team continues to buzz the Merrimack net, with Warrior goalie Zach Borgiel making some sizable