June 4, 2009

LOWELL, Mass. - A season-opening trip to the Ice Breaker Tournament, an appearance in the Dartmouth Tournament and the usual 27-game Hockey East slate highlight the 2009-10 UMass Lowell schedule, head coach Blaise MacDonald announced.

The 36-game schedule consists of the usual 27 Hockey East dates as well as nine non-conference contests. The River Hawks have 17 home games and 19 road/neutral site games.

"One of the many benefits of playing in Hockey East is that before we schedule our non-conference games, we already have a tremendous schedule in place," said MacDonald of playing in Hockey East. "Having the last two national champions and, this past year, two Frozen Four participants always offer a tremendous challenge."

The 2009-10 Hockey East schedule for UMass Lowell gets off to a fast start as the River Hawks first four league games against their 2009 Hockey East playoff opponents.

A night after opening the home schedule against non-conference foe Colgate University, the River Hawks host Northeastern, their 2009 Hockey East semifinal opponent, at the Tsongas Arena (Oct. 24).

Next up is a rematch of the 2009 Hockey East championship game as UMass Lowell and Boston University meet for a home-and-home series. The two squads play at the Tsongas Arena on October 30 and at Agganis Arena on October 31.

The four-game stretch concludes with UMass Lowell visiting 2009 Frozen Four participant Vermont on November 6. The River Hawks swept the Catamounts in the 2009 Hockey East Quarterfinals at the Gutterson Fieldhouse.

UMass Lowell plays New Hampshire twice in the season's first half - Sunday, November 8 at Tsongas Arena and December 4 at the Whittemore Center.

The first half league schedule also includes games against Merrimack (11/21), Providence (11/24), Maine (11/27) and Massachusetts (12/5).

The River Hawks play their final 17 games within the league - eight at home and nine on the road. The stretch drive schedule includes all three games against 2008 national champion Boston College (1/23, 2/12-13), two at Northeastern, two at Maine (2/19-20) and two at home against Vermont (3/5-6).

Before the Hockey East schedule begins, the River Hawks open the season with three non-conference games beginning with the Ice Breaker Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska (10/9-10).

UMass Lowell opens play in the Ice Breaker on October 9 against St. Lawrence of the ECAC at 5:05 p.m. In the second day of the tournament (10/10), the River Hawks will play either tournament host Nebraska Omaha or Army.

"We're able to add to our schedule this year by being invited to the Ice Breaker Tournament in Omaha," said MacDonald. "They're two exempt games that don't count against our limit of 34 games. It gives our team more experience and two great opponents."

The River Hawks open up their 2009-10 home schedule on October 23 against Colgate. They also have non-conference games against Alabama Huntsville (11/13-14) and Princeton (12/11-12) before the Christmas break.

"We have Colgate coming into the Tsongas Arena," said MacDonald. "And we have a nice trip down to Alabama Huntsville, who just two years ago was in the NCAA Tournament."

UMass Lowell wraps up its pre-Christmas portion of the schedule with a two-game series against Princeton at the Tsongas Arena. It will be the first meetings against between the two schools since January 23, 2000. UML is 3-0-0 all-time against Princeton.

"The series against Princeton at the Tsongas Arena is going to be big for us," MacDonald said. "They made the NCAA Tournament last year and are going to be a very good team against this year."

The River Hawks return from the Christmas break to take part in the Ledyard National Bank Classic hosted by Dartmouth University. In addition to UMass Lowell and Dartmouth, the tournament field includes Northeastern and Holy Cross. Game times and match-ups for the tournament have not been announced.

The season unofficially gets underway on October 4 when the River Hawks host Acadia in an exhibition contest at the Tsongas Arena at 4:00 p.m.

We're excited about our schedule," MacDonald added. "All in all it's a great schedule for our team. It will challenge us to take that next step."

Click here to view entire 2009-2010 schedule:
UMass Lowell Hockey 2009-2010 Season Schedule