River Hawks zero in
Hernberg shuts out No. 2 Minutemen
There are blue-collar victories that stand out throughout a long season. Chalk up last night’s 2-0 victory by UMass-Lowell over UMass as just such a signature win, much to the delight of a standing-roomonly crowd of 6,598 at Tsongas Center in Lowell.
UML (17-8-2, 11-4-2 Hockey East), which continually won puck battles in all three zones, extended its current unbeaten streak to 10 games (9-0-1) with the win and in the process became the first team to capture a series sweep from the vaunted HE-leading Minutemen (216-0, 13-4-0) this season.
“I thought the first period we were opportunistic. The second period we were better. The third period we bent but didn’t break,’’ UML coach Norm Bazin said.
UML senior Christoffer Hernberg was immense and played perhaps the best game of his career, finishing with 31 saves. It was the second shutout in as many nights for the River Hawks as Tyler Wall blanked Boston College, 3-0, on Friday.
“”Obviously, it was a good hockey game. Everyone tonight chipped in,’’ said Hernberg, who hails from Espoo, Finland.
Last night was a matchup of the top two teams in the Hockey East standings.
“”We tried to bill the game to our guys that it was playoff hockey and for first place in the league and we weren’t ready to play,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “Give UMass-Lowell credit. They’re the best team in the league right now. They’re heavy on the sticks and strong around the net. I thought that as the game wore on we played accordingly but by that time they were comfortably ahead, 2-0.’’
Following a ceremonial drop of the puck by Gov. Charlie Baker, the official faceoff was held and the River Hawks went flying. UML peppered UMass goalie Matt Murray in the opening minutes. Murray, who sat Friday’s night’s 4-2 win against BU in lieu of backup Filip Lindeberg, made three saves in the opening two minutes but it was UML’s fifth shot that paid a price. Redshirt sophomore right wing Chris Schutz wheeled low in the left circle and snapped a shot that struck a defender in front and changed direction at 2:12.
During a 4-on-4 later in the period, UML sophomore Connor Sodergren entered the UMass zone and put on the brakes. He slid the puck back to a trailing Anthony Baxter and the sophomore defenseman fired a low shot into traffic that found the mark at 14:46.
UConn 5, Merrimack 0 — Tomas Vomacka made 29 saves and Jonny Evans had two goals and two assists as the Huskies (9-17-2, 4-12-2 HE) blanked the Warriors (7-20-1, 4-14-0) in Hartford.
Maine 3, Providence 1 — Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves and the Black Bears (11-14-3, 7-8-3 HE) got goals from three different players to edge the Friars (16-9-5, 9-7-2) in Orono, Maine.
Vermont 4, New Hampshire 1— Johnny DeRoche had a goal and assist and the Catamounts (12-14-2, 5-11-2 HE) skated past the Wildcats (1110-8, 7-7-5) in Burlington, Vt.
Bentley 6, Canisius 4 — Will Garin had a goal and two assists and the Falcons (1411-3, 13-7-2 Atlantic) had six different scorers in their victory against the Ice Griffins (9-17-3, 6-15-2) in Waltham.
Holy Cross 4, RIT 3 — Neil Robinson scored with 4:17 left and the Crusaders (7-17-4, 7-12-3 Atlantic) rallied past the Engineers (1312-3, 11-8-3) in Worcester.
AIC 5, Army 2 — Tobias Fladeby scored twice and the Yellow Jackets (17-12-1, 17-8-1 Atlantic) took down the Black Knights (8-16-4, 7-11-4) in West Point, N.Y.