NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (Nov. 20, 2007) – Carter Hutton (Thunder Bay, Ont.) made 22 saves to earn his second career shutout, and Chris Auger (Belleville, Ont.) scored two goals as UMass Lowell defeated Merrimack College, 3-0, in Hockey East action Tuesday night at the Volpe Center.

With the win the River Hawks improve to 3-3-4 overall and 1-3-4 in Hockey East play. The Warriors fall to 6-5-1 overall and 3-5-1 in league play with the loss.

Hutton had just nine saves through the first two periods, but had to make 13 third period saves to complete the shutout. The shutout is the second of Hutton’s career; his first also came against the Warriors (Nov. 4, 2006). Hutton improved to 2-1-2 on the season with the victory.

Auger scored the first two goals of the hockey game, opening the scoring at 8:15 of the first on a two-on-one with freshman winger Patrick Cey (Saskatoon, Sask.). Auger beat Merrimack netminder Patrick Watson (Waltham, Mass.) with a shot to the short side post. Kory Falite (Billerica, Mass.) and Nick Schaus (Buffalo, N.Y.) had the assists.

The sophomore center’s second tally of the night came at the 7:28 mark of the second period on a re-direction in front of the net. Cey and Ben Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had the assists.

Holmstrom then made it 3-0 at 12:42 of the second with his first goal of the season, a power play marker. The goal came on a rebound in front of the net with assists going to Falite and Maury Edwards (Rocky Rapids, Alb.).

The River Hawks went 1-for-4 on the power play. The man-advantage goal was UML’s first in 19 attempts. The Warriors were 0-for-3 on the power play.

Watson made 24 saves for Merrimack, but took the loss. UML out-shot Merrimack 27 to 22 for the game.

“We were playing a very good opponent that is playing exceptionally well,” said UML head coach Blaise MacDonald. “This building is always a difficult place to play. I thought we were moving our feet and making good decisions with the puck. We had good puck certainty and security. That’s the formula for us. Goals don’t come easy for us, but I thought we worked hard for our goals tonight.”

The River Hawks and Warriors meet again Saturday night at the Tsongas Arena to conclude their season series. The series is tied 1-1 through two games. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.