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Friday vs. Boston College: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes
Saturday at Boston College: Live Stats | Watch | Listen | Game Notes 

LOWELL, Mass. – After splitting last weekend’s games at the Adirondack Winter Invitational, the UMass Lowell ice hockey team (6-8-0, 3-3-0 Hockey East) return to Hockey East play to take on No. 14/15 Boston College (8-5-1, 5-3-0 Hockey East) in a two-game, home-and-home series. The River Hawks will host the Eagles in game one on Friday, December 5 at 7:15 p.m., before hitting the city for game two at Conte Forum at 7:00 p.m. 

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS

UMass Lowell entered the 2025-26 season coming off an 16-16-4 campaign that saw the River Hawks enter the Hockey East Tournament as the #7 seed. The team has graduated a handful of players and have bolstered their lineup of 14 returners with 15 newcomers, including three transfers and 12 freshmen. Of those transfers, one is graduate student, one is a senior and one is a sophomore. The team kicked off the 2025-26 season tied for the seventh spot in the Hockey East Preseason Poll with 53 points. At the moment, they are not recieving votes in the USCHO or USA Hockey Polls. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.

UMass Lowell enters this weekend after a split weekend at the Adirondack Winter Invitational in Lake Placid. The River Hawks fell against Clarkson, 2-0, before earning a 7-3 victory against St. Lawrence the next day. Dalyn Wakely led the team with his first career hat trick in Saturdayís win.

At the moment, Wakely leads the squad with 12 points (5g, 7a). Jay Ahearn (6g, 3a), Dillan Bentley (5g, 4a) and Jak Vaarwerk (3g, 6a) are all just behind him with nine apiece. Austin Elliott leads the goaltenders with a 2.50 GAA and .905 save percentage in his 11 appearances, while Samuel Richard holds a 2.62 GAA and .911 save percentage in six appearances. 

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
The Eagles enter the weekend with a 4-10-0 overall record, most recently going 1-0-0 last weekend against Notre Dame. They picked up a 5-3 victory over the Fighting Irish at home in a standalone game on Friday.

Boston College is coming off a 2024-25 season year where they finished 27-8-2 (18-4-2 Hockey East). They fell, 3-1, to Northeastern in the Hockey East Quarterfinals, before defeating Bentley in the NCAA Northeast Regional, 3-1, and eventually coming up short against Denver, 3-1, in the NCAA Northeast Regional Final. They return three of their top five point-scorers from 2024-25 in James Hagens, Andre Gasseau and Teddy Stiga. Hagens finished third with 37 points (11g, 26a), while Gasseau (15g, 15a) and Stiga (14g, 16a) tied for fourth with 30 points each. For goaltenders, Jan Korec returns for the Eagles and made three appearances and two starts last year, going 2-1-0 with a 1.15 GAA and .954 save percentage.

This season, Hagens leads the team with 16 points (9g, 7a), while Dean Letourneau sits in second with 14 points (6g, 8a) and Jake Sondreal is third with 13 (5g, 8a). Louka Cloutier has started 12 games in net, holding an 8-3-1 record with a 2.18 GAA and .910 save percentage. Korec has made two appearances and starts with an 0-2-0 record, 3.64 GAA and .865 save percentage. 

UMASS LOWELL VS. BOSTON COLLEGE

The River Hawks have seen a lot of Boston College throughout program history, registering a 45-74-12 (.389) all-time mark against the Eagles. The two teams last played on January 31, 2025 when the River Hawks fell, 4-0, at Conte Forum.

FILLING THE TSONGAS

After five home games, UMass Lowell is averaging 5634 per game, 93.9% of capacity, with two sellouts already. They currently rank 18th in the NCAA in total attendance and ninth in average attendance, second in Hockey East to Boston College. The 93.9% of capacity ranks 10th in the NCAA. 

Last season, over 18 home games the average attendance at Tsongas was 5138, ranking UMass Lowell 13th in the nation. This was the fifth best number in the 27 full seasons that Tsongas has been open. There were six official sellouts last season, tied with 2012-13, 2014-15, and 2015-16 for the second-most in a single season. Only 2016-17, with seven, had more. (Capacity for Tsongas is 6,003).

Overall, UMass  Lowell is 27-19-8 when Tsongas is sold out.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER

When UMass Lowell scores 3 goals or more, they are 6-0-0 this season, and 231-43-17 since Norm Bazin took over. When they score 2 goals or less, they are 0-8-0 this season, and 53-150-30 under Norm.

On the flip side, when UMass Lowell allows 3 goals or more they are 2-4-0 this season and 49-155-17 under Norm, When they allow 2 goals or less they are 4-4-0 this season, and 235-38-30 under Norm.

AT THE DOT

UMass Lowell currently ranks 24th in the nation at the faceoff dot going into this weekend’s slate. The River Hawks have won 444 of their 870 faceoffs taken for a .510 faceoff win percentage through their first 14 games.

IN THE POLLS

At the moment, the River Hawks are not receiving votes in the USCHO or USA Hockey Polls. They ended last season at No. 19 in the Pairwise rankings.

A WIN TODAY…
A win today would move the River Hawks to a 7-8-0 record on the season and a 46-74-12 record all-time against the Eagles. Head Coach Norm Bazin would also move to 15-18-5 against Boston College. 

UP NEXT

Next, the River Hawks will move on to play Maine in a midweek, standalone matchup on Wednesday, December 10 in Portland, Maine at Cross Insurance Arena. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.