UVM welcomed No. 4 UMass-Lowell for a two game, Hockey East series this weekend at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

The River Hawks got an early lead on the Catamounts, and never looked back. In the first game, Lowell went on the power play early in the first period after a penalty by UVM’s Ori Abramson. The River Hawks were able to capitalize with goal from junior defenseman Dylan Zink.

The second period would start in poorly for the Catamounts. Twelve seconds into the period, Lowell’s Michael Colantone fired a shot from the blue line that was deflected high into the air and came down and through the legs of junior goalie Mike Santaguida.

Four minutes later, UVM would cut the lead in half with a goal from first-year defenseman Mike Lee, earning his first collegiate point. The blast from the point ended up top shelf after a redirection.

With four and half left to go in the second Lowell regained their two goal lead with a tick-tack-toe play that resulted in an easy goal for Lowell’s Ryan Mcgrath. Besides the Lee goal, the second period was ugly for the Cats. They were outshot 17 to 5, and leaned heavily on Santaguida.

Hope came in the third when senior defenseman Alexx Privitera scored a power play goal with a one-time blast from the top of the circle. However, a minute later Lowell tallied another one, putting them up 4-2. A scramble around the net left Santaguida sprawling and a Lowell player all alone in front.

Four minutes later Lowell’s A.J. White gained possession off a faceoff in the UVM zone, walked it to the front of the net, and stuffed the puck past Santaguida for the unassisted goal.

UVM would get one back with a goal from Mario Puskarich. First-year defenseman Jake Kearley earned his first collegiate point with an assist, but it was to no avail. Final score: UVM-3 UMass Lowell-5.

Game two proved to be a tough task for the Cats. Lowell’s Adam Chapie scored on the power play with just under six minutes remaining in the first.

The rest of the game proved frustrating for the Catamounts, who were unable to score in the remaining forty-six minutes. Santaguida took the loss as the Cats dropped to 2-6-1 on the year and 0-6-1 at home.

“I’m proud of where our boys have been able to come in the past week. This looked like a completely different team than the one we fielded against Northeastern,” head coach Kevin Sneddon said at a post game conference.

The men’s hockey team faces off against the University of Connecticut at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at Gutterson Fieldhouse.  At 1 p.m. Nov. 15 UMass-Amherst will travel to Gutterson for a game.