The UMass Lowell River Hawks are competing in a international venue that witnessed one of many nice triumphs in program historical past.
After a two-year hiatus introduced on by the worldwide pandemic, the Friendship Four hockey event is again with two semifinal matches on Friday night time in SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
No. 4 Quinnipiac (9-1-2) takes on its ECAC journey associate Dartmouth (1-4-1) within the opener whereas No. 14 Lowell (8-5-0) engages Hockey East rival No. 17 UMass (6-5-1) within the nightcap. The winners advance to the title recreation whereas the losers compete within the comfort match on Saturday.
“It is exciting to come back to a tournament that you are a little bit familiar with but they have made great advances in hosting the event,” mentioned UML coach Norm Bazin. “In the seven years since they started the event, they have crossed a lot of those T’s and dotted a lot of those I’s.”
Boston and Belfast are sister cities and the unique premise was cultural change via faculty hockey. The plan gained traction former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Arder Carson, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, bought behind it. The Friendship Four was initially dubbed the “Belfast Beanpot” and the championship trophy is the Belpot.
The 4 groups invited to the primary Friendship Four in 2015 have been Lowell, Northeastern, Brown and Colgate and so they set a aggressive normal which may by no means be duplicated. The River Hawks have been No. 4 within the nation going into the event however that didn’t matter a lot on the opposite facet of the Atlantic
Lowell battled from behind to beat Northeastern, 3-2, in additional time. The championship match towards Brown offered even better drama.
Lowell ahead CJ Smith tied the sport 5-5 with an additional skater on the ice with 39 seconds remaining. Lowell defenseman Dylan Zink scored the one aim within the shootout that introduced the primary Belpot to the Merrimack Valley. The 2022 River Hawks have lots of motivation to recapture that glory.
“You can use the past as an educational experience,” mentioned Bazin. “None of these young men are familiar with the players that participated in 2015 but this can be their experience.”
In Hockey East, Boston College vs. Boston University together with New Hampshire vs. Maine have been dominant rivalries when the convention was based in 1984. But Hockey East underwent an influence construction makeover previously decade when Lowell started pushing the large boys apart. Lowell has received three Hockey East titles since 2013.
UMass moved to the highest of the frozen meals chain below coach Greg Carvel by profitable the 2021 National Championship and the final two Hockey East crowns.
“I wouldn’t say building, the rivalry has been built and they are our rival,” mentioned Carvel. “When I first bought to UMass seven years in the past, I used to be advised that was our rival however we couldn’t beat them the primary variety of occasions we performed them.
“Then we started winning some games and now it really feels like a strong rivalry. It’s definitely a rivalry and they are a really good hockey team.”
Carvel was in his first season at Amherst when UMass was invited to compete within the 2016 Friendship Four. Vermont beat the Minutemen within the opener and went on to beat Quinnipiac within the title recreation.
UMass skated to a 2-2 tie with St. Lawrence within the comfort recreation however misplaced in a shootout. The recreation carried lots of emotion for Carvel as a result of he had been each a participant and a head coach at St. Lawrence.
“I enjoyed every part of it except I had to coach against my old team,” mentioned Carvel. “That was difficult because all the kids on the other bench were kids I recruited.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com