Potsdam, NY – Penalty trouble in the third period led to the Clarkson University Men's Hockey team's downfall against Lowell on Saturday as the River Hawks rallied for a 4-2 come-from-behind win.
Mark Pandolfo tallied two third-period power-play goals to lead UMass-Lowell to the victory over Clarkson in non-conference action Saturday night before 2,125 fans at Cheel Arena. The River Hawks, of Hockey East, improved their record to 7-6-3, while the Golden Knights fall to 6-6-3 after suffering two consecutive losses for the first time this season. Clarkson lost 4-3 to UNH on Friday.
Trailing 2-1 after two periods, UMass-Lowell tallied three unanswered goals in the final stanza. Pandolfo started the River Hawks’ comeback when he connected from the right circle for a power-play goal at 6:09. Pandolfo netted his sixth goal of the season, an unassisted marker at 15:49 for the winning goal. Peter Tormey sealed Lowell’s third straight win over the Knights with an empty-net goal with two seconds remaining.
Senior defenseman Mike Nagai (Mississauga, ONT) opened the scoring in the first period for Clarkson with his first goal of the season on a shot from the point, which found its way through traffic and past Lowell goaltender Chris Davidson at 9:35. Freshman Mike Sullivan (Stouffville, QUE) and junior Chris Blight (Cambridge, ONT) assisted.
Lowell tied the score just after a River Hawk power play ended when Jason Tejchma’s shot from the top of the right circle slipped by a screen in front and past Clarkson freshman goaltender Kyle McNulty (Wakefield, RI) at 7:59. The Knights answered back at 14:39 to take a 2-1 lead when Mike Sullivan finished off a pass across the slot from linemate, junior Mac Faulkner (King City, ONT) scoring into a wide open net for his third goal of the season. Freshman defenseman Matt Nickerson (Old Lyme, CT) also assisted.
Lowell outshot Clarkson 35-21, including a 28-10 margin over the final 40 minutes. McNulty, making his first regular-season appearance in goal for the Knights, posted 31 saves. Davidson made 19 stops for the River Hawks, including 10 in the first period.
Lowell was 2-of-8 on the power play, while Clarkson was 1-of-4 with the man-advantage.
