03/15/2015
Boston Globe
By Barbara Matson
LOWELL — The River Hawks are coming back for more. Two-time defending champion UMass-Lowell will make a return to TD Garden next weekend for the Hockey East semifinals after winning its quarterfinal series with Notre Dame with a 6-4 victory in Game 3 Sunday in front of 2,414 at Tsongas Center.
The River Hawks will take on Vermont on Friday at 5 p.m.
Fourteenth-ranked and fourth-seeded UMass-Lowell (20-11-6) was stingy but effective with its shots; by the 5:02 mark of the second period, the River Hawks had scored five goals on 11 shots to take a commanding lead. For the game, Lowell took 17 shots, while fifth-seeded Notre Dame (18-19-5) had 36.
The victory marked the fourth consecutive season the River Hawks have reached the 20-win mark.
Lowell defenseman Zack Kamrass jumped into the offense to score twice for his first career multi-goal game.
“For me, I just try to take the same mind-set every game, I want to be as sound defensively and solid back there as I can,’’ Kamrass said. “If the opportunity presents itself, then absolutely I’ll try and chip in.”
“I though Zack Kamrass was an absolute man out there,’’ Lowell coach Norm Bazin said of his captain. “He was determined. Jake Suter and Terrence Wallin played well also but I thought this was one of Zack’s games; he took it over.”
Kamrass’s second goal, a wrist shot through a screen at 18:35 of the second period, gave Lowell a 6-2 lead. Notre Dame goalie Cal Petersen was replaced by Chad Katunar for the third period and the Irish rallied for a pair of goals but couldn’t get closer.
“I’m not sure if it was a typical Game 3,’’ said Bazin, “but it was a good playoff game. It was a great team effort.”
“I thought we responded very well from yesterday [a 4-2 loss] and we had solid goaltending and we had a complete team effort because we had to kill a lot of penalties.”
The Irish had eight power plays but connected only once, at 16:39 of the second, when they had a 5-on-3 advantage and Robbie Russo (two goals, two assists) sent a wrist shot from the center point past Lowell goalie Kevin Boyle to make it 5-2.
“There was a lot of unpredictable moments,’’ said Bazin. “The guys stayed pretty strong throughout, the resolve was outstanding. When you have to kill that many penalties, you have to be mentally tough and I thought the guys showed that.”
A shorthanded goal and a power-play score helped Lowell take a 4-1 lead in the first period, despite being outshot, 11-8.
It was, perhaps, the shorthanded goal that did the most damage, the River Hawks earning their 10th shortie of the season, best in the nation.
Lowell already had a 1-0 lead, earned at 2:22 of the first when C.J. Smith fired a shot from the top of the left circle for his 16th of the season.
Notre Dame went on the power play at 3:20 on a slashing call to Tyler Mueller, and had a quick chance to even it up. Instead of scoring, the Irish gave up a goal to Adam Chapie, who stole the puck at the defensive blue line, skated in alone on Petersen, and tucked a backhander through the goalie’s pads at 4:17.
“That was a huge goal,’’ said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. “Any time you give a shorthanded goal up, it’s a momentum goal. And it’s deflating.”
The Irish got one back at 8:54 on a bullet from Russo from the center point, but Michael Fallon restored Lowell’s two-goal lead at 12:11. Michael Louria set up the goal from the right corner when he spotted Fallon all alone at the left circle and sent him a pass for a quick shot over Petersen’s shoulder and a 3-1 lead.
Kamrass scored his first on a power-play shot from the right point that skimmed through a screen at 17:53, and Mueller added a power-play score at 5:02 of the second.
The River Hawks now move on to familiar territory at TD Garden, where they will try to become only the second team in league history to win three consecutive tournament titles, along with Boston College (2010-12).