DURHAM – The University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team wanted to show they are better than the eighth-place rank they received in the Hockey East preseason poll.
They took steps in the right direction this weekend.
Liam Blackburn scored twice and Anthony Wyse slapped in the game-winner as the Wildcats defeated No. 5 UMass-Lowell, 3-1, at the Whittemore Center in Durham on Saturday.
New Hampshire (2-0) completed the weekend sweep of the River Hawks (0-2) after winning the first game at Lowell on Friday.
“It was obviously a great weekend for us,” said Coach Dick Umile, opening his 28th and final season as the bench boss for the Wildcats. “The guys played hard all weekend. Danny Tirone stood tall tonight when we needed him to make a big save. Winning two games against UMass-Lowell is a huge weekend for us.”
Defense has been the emphasis in the early days of practice for UNH this season. The Wildcats allowed three Friday night and limited the River Hawks to one on Saturday. Lowell was Hockey East’s most potent offense last season leading the league with 76 goals and averaging 3.45 per game.
Lowell, the defending Hockey East champion, lost its top two forwards from last season and Coach Norm Bazin said his team still has work to do toward playing a full 60 minutes and finding the net.
“Sixty-minute efforts are not in our game yet, far from it,” Bazin said. “Consistency and … playing with the same urgency we played with in the first period is a goal of ours, and we’re going to have to get back to that to even have a chance. There’s a lot of good teams in Hockey East and UNH proved it again.”
That one goal was the first of the evening and came 10:46 into the game. Ryan Lohin won a faceoff against Marcus Vela in the Wildcats’ end and drew the puck back to Kenny Hausinger who fired a shot over Danny Tirone’s shoulder and into the top-right corner of the net.
After a strong start to the period, momentum shifted away from the Wildcats and the River Hawks capitalized with Hausinger’s goal. Lowell peppered 13 shots on Tirone in the opening segment.
“We didn’t play well in the first period, especially in our own end,” Umile said. “We played well in the second period last night, so we wanted to repeat the way we played last night.”
UNH found its answer a minute and a half into the second period with Blackburn’s first goal. Freshman defenseman Benton Maass earned the assist. Maass also recorded an assist Friday night at Lowell, as did fellow freshman blueliner Max Gildon.
It added up to a strong opening weekend for the newest Wildcats.
“Those two definitely don’t (play) like freshmen,” Wyse said. “They come in here and have shown that they’re mature beyond their years.”
Almost nine minutes after Blackburn tied it, Wyse buried the go-ahead, power-play goal for UNH on a slap shot from the right point. Cameron Marks, Wyse’s defensive partner on the power play, wheeled the puck around the left dot and sent a pass to Wyse to set up the score.
It was the second goal of Wyse’s career. The sophomore’s first goal was a game-winner at Vermont last February, a 4-2 win.
Blackburn scored his second goal of the night 6:09 into the third period. Ara Nazaria took the initial shot on a break into the zone. Lowell netminder Tyler Wall (21 saves) deflected the puck out in front of the crease. Wall lunged out to cover it up, but Blackburn streaked in and pounced on the puck for a rebound score.
With Maine’s loss to UConn on Saturday, New Hampshire is in sole possession of first place in Hockey East. But the season is still in its infancy and only Maine, UConn, New Hampshire and Lowell have played conference games.
The Wildcats emerge from their first two games with four points and a new sense of confidence that may have taken a hit after Lowell eliminated them from the Hockey East tournament last season.
Lowell came into the season as the fifth-ranked team in the nation.
“We had a bad taste in our mouths at the end of last year,” said Tirone, who had 32 saves on Saturday. “We certainly have moved on but we didn’t forget about it. It’s with you all summer and it motivates you. … We approached (these games) with no fear and a ton of respect for them and everything they’ve done. But we came in with no fear and no doubt, and it definitely builds our confidence.”
UNH will face non-conference opponents the next two weekends, first with Colgate on Friday and Saturday night. The Wildcats’ next Hockey East game is at Vermont on Oct. 28. The Wildcats play UMass-Lowell again Nov. 10 in Durham.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3339, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)