Thomas DiPauli scored his fifth goal of the season.

No. 5 UMass Lowell Edges No. 15 Notre Dame 3-1

Nov. 21, 2015

Box Score vs. UMass Lowell Get Acrobat Reader

By Dan Colleran

Box Score

LOWELL, Mass. — Fifteenth-ranked Notre Dame and fifth-ranked UMass Lowell played another tightly contested game but behind Kevin Boyle’s 35 saves, the River Hawks were able to hold on for a 3-1 win on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center (5,868).

After a scoreless first period, Evan Campbell put UMass Lowell up 1-0 at 5:40 of the second period with a power-play goal.

Exactly one minute later, Thomas DiPauli responded for the Irish by scoring his fifth goal of the season to tie the game 1-1.

Nick Master netted what proved to be the game winner early in the third period, notching a power-play goal at the 6:20 mark.

Notre Dame continued to generate quality chances down the stretch, but could not solve Boyle for a second time.

“Outside of special teams I thought we did pretty well,” Notre Dame Head Coach Jeff Jackson said. “Give their goaltender credit, I thought he played really well so that’s what you generally need to win when you are on the road – goaltending and special teams – and that worked against us tonight.”

With 4:04 left in regulation, the Irish got a power-play chance after Lowell was whistled for too many men on the ice. After some good looks early in the power-play opportunity, Jackson pulled Petersen with 30 seconds remaining in the power-play but a quick whistle was followed by a Lowell timeout to negate the possible advantage.

“I wanted to catch them off guard, that was my plan,” Jackson said about pulling Petersen in favor of the extra attacker while the Irish were still on the power play. “I probably would have even done it a little earlier if the opportunity was there but I wanted to make sure we got the puck entered again into the offensive zone first.”

Mario Lucia and Jordan Gross also had chances near the end of regulation as the Irish skated on the 6-on-5 advantage with Petersen still out of the net, but Boyle and the River Hawks held on.

Then with four seconds left, UMass Lowell’s Adam Chapie scored an empty net goal to make it 3-1.

Petersen finished with 13 saves in the Irish net as the Notre Dame defense limited the River Hawks to just 16 shots on goal.

Boyle made 35 saves for the River Hawks, including 14 in the third period.

Notre Dame (5-3-4, 3-1-2 HEA) was 0-for-5 on the power play, while UMass Lowell (9-1-3, 5-0-3 HEA) finished 2-for-3 on the power play.

“We held our own versus one of the best teams in the country,” Jackson added. “I’m proud of the guys, I thought they battled hard today we just couldn’t get it done on the power play.”

Notre Dame returns home next weekend to play host to the sixth installment of the Shillelagh Tournament on Nov. 27-28 at the Compton Family Ice Arena. Friday’s opening round will include Western Michigan versus RPI (4:05 p.m.), followed by the Irish taking on eighth-ranked Harvard at 7:35 p.m.

Goals
— UMass Lowell took a 1-0 lead at 5:40 of the second period when Evan Campbell lifted a back hander high past Petersen for his second goal of the season, with assists to C.J. Smith and Dylan Zink. The goal came while the River Hawks were on the power play.

— Exactly one minute later, Thomas DiPauli answered for the Irish with his fifth goal of the season. Dylan Malmquist played the puck back to Connor Hurley in the high slot. Hurley sent a snapshot on goal and DiPauli was able to coral the rebound and put it past Boyle.

— The River Hawks took a 2-1 lead at 6:20 of the third period when Nick Master one-timed an Adam Chapie shot from the slot past Petersen for Lowell’s second power-play goal of the night. Michael Kapla also assisted on the goal.

— Adam Chapie added an empty net goal at 19:56 of the third period to make it 3-1, with assists going to A.J. White and Joe Gambardella.

Notes
Thomas DiPauli scored his fifth goal of the season, tying Dylan Malmquist and Jordan Gross for the team lead.

Sam Herr finished with a team-high five shots on goal for the Irish.

— The Irish defense held UMass Lowell to its second-lowest shot total of the season.

— ND —

Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and men’s golf programs. A native Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Prior to Providence, Colleran spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League. He is a 2006 graduate of Providence College, where he also earned an MBA in 2008.