A season that was cut far too short
For a handful of teams the season continues, but not the team many in this region believed would. After their first round defeat at the hands of the Maine Black Bears, the UMass Lowell (UML) River Hawks hockey season came to an end. To some it ended far sooner than they had anticipated.
This was a season that many not just in the area, but around the country had high expectations for. The team began the year in the top tan of many national rankings, and was voted second in Hockey East.
The beginning of the season started to fulfill those expectations as the ’Hawks went 8-2-1 in their first 11 games of the year, causing many opposing coached to believe they were one of the best teams. At one point in the year the ’Hawks were ranked nationally as high as third by USCHO.com. Their success had been seen regionally and nationally as they won games on NESN and ESPNU.
The second half of the season would not go as well for the ’Hawks as the first half though. The ’Hawks would go on to lose seven of ten games from Jan. 15 to Feb. 19. They would earn a point in their final five regular season games though.
A three way tie for third with Maine and Boston University would lead to UML losing their tie breakers, and having to travel to Maine, a place they were 0-12 in the post season before this year.
Although they were able to take the first game 2-1, Maine would comeback to win game two, and win the deciding game in overtime 3-2. The early exit in the Hockey east tournament assured they would not be in the NCAA tourney.
The strength of the season for the ’Hawks would be defense and goal tending. UML finished first in Hockey East in scoring defense, allowing an average of 2.36 goals per game. Only once the entire season the ’Hawks were defeated by a margin greater than two goals, Feb. 19 at Maine (4-8).
Goaltender Cater Hutton saw success as he would finish fifth in the country in goals against average with 2.04, third in the country in save percentage at .928, and tie for fifth in shutouts with four. He would also set the school record for career shutouts with ten. There were also many milestones set this season, whether it was the 100th career point for Kory Falite at Maine, or the first career goal for Steve Capraro against Vermont. This was also the second time each that Falite and Scott Campbell led the team in scoring with 34 points. Campbell led in 2008-2009, Falite in 2007-2008.
There will be a lot of new faces in the upcoming season as 13 seniors have played their final game at UML. So far six of the 13 seniors on the team have begun their careers in professional hockey. This leaves many gaps to fill for the upcoming years. If there is one thing the past couple years have proven, anything can happen.
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