The UMass Lowell River Hawks have won four of their last five games, but they sure haven’t made it easy on themselves. All four of their wins come by the thin margin of a single goal, and of the 12 goals the River Hawks have surrendered in those five games, eight have come from unlikely sources while UML’s defense has done a terrific job of shutting down the opponents’ most dangerous snipers.
A lack of attention to detail perhaps? Not one of those eight players had managed to score more than three goals this season before lighting the lamp against UML.
Three of those players — Merrimack’s Mickey Rego, Boston University’s Dave Warsofsky, and UMass Amherst’s Shawn Saunders — all netted their first goals of the season at the expense of the River Hawks. BU’s Joe Pereira and Merrimack’s Jeff Velleca both had one goal this season before doubling their totals against the River Hawks.
The difference in UML’s only loss in that stretch, a 5-3 setback against No. 1 BU, was the three goals scored by Warsofsky, Pereira, and John McCarthy. That trio had combined for three previous goals all season.