Men’s Hockey: No. 9 Terriers to face No. 18 Lowell in First Hockey East Home-and-Home

By Miranda Lemus

Following a physical two-game series last weekend against the No. 10 UConn Huskies, No. 9 Boston University Men’s Hockey (3-2-0, 1-1-0 HE) are set to face the No. 18 UMass-Lowell River Hawks (4-2-0, 1-0-0 HE) in their first home-and-home series of the season.

According to Boston University Head Coach Jay Pandolfo, UConn and Lowell play a similar game, giving the Terriers a good indication of what to expect heading into this weekend’s matchup.

“They swarm you in the D-Zone, and you have to keep the puck moving before they try to outnumber you,” Pandolfo said. “That’s one of the things UConn does so well and Lowell does it just as well.”

Senior forward Matt Brown led the Terriers this past weekend with a career-high four points in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Huskies, registering two goals and two assists. Now leading the Terriers in points, Brown will face his old team in the River Hawks, where he played from 2019-21 before transferring to BU.

“Brown himself will probably be a little bit motivated, maybe a little bit more,” Pandolfo said in his weekly press conference.

The Terriers fell to the River Hawks last year, losing both games in their doubleheader weekend. BU is 3-4-3 in their last 10 matchups against Lowell.

Senior forward Carl Berglund leads the River Hawks with four goals and eight points in six games. Senior forward Brian Chambers has the team lead in assists with five.

With Lowell averaging 28 shots per game, this matchup should be a test for junior goaltender Vinny Duplessis.

Junior goaltender Drew Commesso remains day-to-day, but Pandolfo has high hopes for Commesso to return soon.

“Drew’s been doing well… he started practicing full Tuesday or Wednesday. I haven’t got the update from the trainer on what the status is yet,” Pandolfo said.

Opposite Duplessis, junior goaltender Henry Welsch will start between the pipes for Lowell this weekend and aim for his third win of the season.

The Terriers travel up to the Tsongas Center in Lowell to start their home-and-home series at 7:15 pm.