Elias Godoy scored the game’s only goal at 14:40 of the second, and Chris Davidson made 27 saves for his second consecutive shutout of the season as Mass.-Lowell beat No. 11 Massachusetts, 1-0, Sunday afternoon in Hockey East action at the Mullins Center.
Massachusetts looked to have the early advantage in the game after the River Hawks handed the Minutemen two straight power plays. UMass defenseman Thomas Pock had the best scoring opportunity of the early moments, weaving through two defenders en route to the net. Pock wrested a quick shot high, however Davidson was one moment quicker, gloving the puck out of the air.
Lowell had opportunities of its own later on in the period. On the man-advantage, Ben Walter had two point-blank opportunities to put the River Hawks up, but this time it was Minutemen netminder Gabe Winer made two nice saves to keep the game scoreless. The two teams went into the locker room with the same score they started the game with, as Massachusetts outshot UML 10-6 after one period.
Godoy broke the scoreless tie late in the second period. Taking a beautiful feed from the right corner thanks to linemate Brad King, Godoy skated into the slot and mirrored the move he made from the previous night, forcing Winer to commit low before skating around him and lifting the puck high at 14:40.
The River Hawks picked up the tempo for the rest of the period looking for an insurance marker, but were unable to garner one, heading into the locker room after a light period in shots that saw the Minutemen with the advantage, 7-5.
Pock looked primed to tie the game midway through the third, however another spectacular save from Davidson kept the Minutemen off the board. Only moments later, Marvin Degon and Tim Vitek broke in on an odd-man rush, and although Degon’s pass was true to Vitek on the low left side, Vitek’s shot rang off the near post.
Davidson made 27 saves for his second straight win, while Winer stopped a total of 11 shots faced.
