LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell ice hockey team (6-9-0, 3-4-0 Hockey East) fell short in a hard-fought game against No. 15/14 Boston College (9-5-1, 6-3-0 Hockey East), 3-1, Friday night at the Tsongas Center.
Sophomore Mirko Buttazzoni (Langley, B.C.) scored the lone goal for the River Hawks, with assists from his brother, freshman Diego Buttazzoni (Langley, B.C.), and sophomore Libor Nemec (Bratislava, Slovakia). Defensively, sophomore Dominick Rivelli (Highland Park, Ill.) and sophomore Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.) led the team with two blocked shots each, while six other skaters all tallied one apiece. Freshman Austin Elliott (Strathmore, Alberta) got the nod in net for the River Hawks, making 26 saves.
“We certainly came up short tonight,” said Head Coach Norm Bazin. “Obviously, I liked the third period. I thought there was a little bit more urgency, but it was too little too late. It was what it was, and we have to improve in several areas.”
The River Hawks began the game with some quality pressure on the Boston College defensive unit, controlling the puck in the offensive zone and creating opportunities, including one in front of the net from graduate student Jay Ahearn (Staten Island, N.Y.) at 13:51 that went just wide of the right post. After more hard-fought hockey, the Eagles eventually opened up the scoring with a goal at 17:00 and the River Hawks immediately went to the power play at 17:16, but to no avail and the teams went to the locker room with the score at 1-0.
The River Hawks were a man down at the beginning of the second period but killed off the penalty thanks to tight defensive play and a handful of crucial saves from Elliott. Following the kill, Elliott continued to play sharp between the pipes and a senior Connor Eddy (Victoria, B.C.) breakaway backhand shot went just high of the crossbar, before the River Hawks picked up a power play opportunity of their own. They could not find the back of the net during the man advantage, but sophomore Lee Parks (Ottawa, Ontario) had a great scoring chance just after, which barely caught the glove of the Eagles’ goaltender. Boston College then added a goal at the 10:58 mark to make it 2-0, and it was a back-and-forth battle for the remainder of the period.
The fight continued in the third period, as the squad found some energy and urgency offensively and fired four quality shots on goal within the first three minutes. Despite a Boston College power play goal at the 4:24 mark, the River Hawks clawed back in it with Mirko Buttazzoni’s fourth goal of the season at 8:13 to cut the deficit to two. Nemec started the sequence in the high slot and fed Diego Buttazzoni in the left faceoff circle, who then sent a cross-ice pass to Mirko Buttazzoni for the goal. This gave the River Hawks momentum, as they buzzed for the remainder of the period for five more shots on goal, but they could not add to the score and the game concluded at 3-1.
Next, the River Hawks travel to Boston College tomorrow, Saturday, December 6 for game two at Conte Forum. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
