DURHAM, N.H. – Sophomore Angus Crookshank (North Vancouver, British Columbia) and junior Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa) both recorded goals, but Anthony Baxter scored the game winner goal for the River Hawks as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team fell to No. 12 UMass Lowell, 3-2, in front of 6,237 fans at the Whittemore Center on Saturday night.
The Wildcats are now 15-14-3, (9-11-2 HEA) on the season, and the River Hawks are 17-10-6 (11-7-5 HEA). UNH is currently in ninth place in the Hockey East standings, just one point behind eighth place Northeastern. The top eight teams qualify for the Hockey East Tournament.
The Wildcats will return to action on Friday and Saturday, March 6-7 at 7 p.m. when they play No. 4 Boston College in a home-and-home series on CBS All Access. Friday's game is at Conte Forum, while the contest on Saturday is at the Whittemore Center. Saturday the Wildcats will honor their five seniors for their hard work and dedication to the program. The game at the Whittemore Center on Saturday will be the last regular season game for the Wildcats as the final set of trading cards will be given out to the first 1,000 fans at the Whitt. Individual game tickets with affordable options that start as low as $9 and a convenient six-ticket flexible miniplan can be purchased for the season by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at (603) 862-4000 or by visiting UNHWildcats.com.
FEATURED PHOTOS: Fans received Baby Wild E. cups as part of Star Wars Night (Photo by Ben Humphreys) Star Wars Night (Photo by Ben Humphreys) The UNH Army ROTC Color Guard (Photo by Ben Humphreys) The York Middle School Chorus performed the national anthem (Photo by Cayla Fernandes) The Dover Stars lined up with the Wildcats for the National Anthem (Photo by Ben Humphreys) The Dover Stars took to the ice between periods (Photo by Ben Humphreys)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first period went scoreless as UNH outshot UML, 15-6, while the Wildcats went 0-1 on the power play.
With 6:13 remaining in the first period, junior Max Gildon (Plano, Texas) ripped a shot glove side from the right face-off circle that hit the post, to keep the score 0-0.
The Wildcats killed off a penalty, as the River Hawks' Carl Berglund released a strong wrist shot at junior goalie Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H), who caught the high puck in his glove.
After senior Anthony Wyse (Newton, Mass.) received a five-minute major and a game misconduct, the Wildcats were back on the penalty kill.
At 15:12 of the second period with UMass Lowell on the power play, a shot by Chase Blackmun bounced off the boards and landed to UML's Sam Knoblauch. He then sent the puck to the upper stick-side of the net, which gave the River Hawks the 1-0 lead.
After a penalty on sophomore Jackson Pierson (Zionsville, Ind.) at just 23 seconds of the third period, UML's Colin O'Neill scored on a penalty shot to increase their lead to 2-0.
At 1:55 of the third period, Crookshank put the Wildcats on the board, when he skated behind the UML defense and rifled a shot from the left face off circle high stick-side past Tyler Wall.
Angus Crookshank scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season (Photo by Ben Humphreys)
At 5:26 of the third period, the River Hawks' Anthony Baxter sent a slap shot from the slot, which slid past Robinson and increased their lead 3-1.
At 14:46 of the third period, after Gildon sent the puck into the box, UML's Wall deflected the puck away from the crease, and it landed at the stick of Grasso who pushed a diving shot into the back of the net, cutting the margin 3-2.
But the Wildcats were unable to score the equlaizer for the 3-2 final score.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Robinson made 17 saves and Wall recorded 26.
UNH outshot UML by a 28-20 margin.
The Wildcats went 1-5 on the power play and the River Hawks went 1-4.
STAY CONNECTED
There are numerous ways to stay connected with the UNH men's hockey team. Follow the Wildcats on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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