Norm Bazin is in his 12th season as UMass Lowell’s head coach, and the River Hawks have been above .500 for 10 of his first 11 campaigns.
UML qualified for the NCAA Tournament after posting a .643 winning percentage last season and won its 2022-23 opener vs. St. Lawrence, 4-0 last weekend, vaulting the RedHawks to No. 15 in the USCHO poll.
So Miami faces quite a challenge in its first road series for the season.
A look at this weekend’s matchup:
WHO: Miami RedHawks (1-0-1) at UMass Lowell River Hawks (1-0).
WHERE: Tsongas Center (6,003), Lowell, Mass.
WHEN: Friday – 7:15 p.m.: Saturday – 6:05 p.m.
ALL-TIME SERIES: UMass Lowell leads, 2-1-1.
TV: None.
STREAMING: Both nights – ESPN+.
MIAMI RADIO: Saturday – WMOH-AM (1450), Hamilton, Ohio.
UML RADIO: Both nights – WCAP-AM (980), Lowell, Mass.; WUML-FM (91.5), Lowell, Mass.
NOTES: These teams have met just four times.
They tied, 4-4 at the Nye Classic in Anchorage in 2003, UML beat Miami, 4-3 in overtime in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament, and the teams split a set in Oxford four years ago.
UML lost five of its top eight points-producers from last season.
But the River Hawks return Carl Berglund, who led the team in assists (19) and tied for tops in points (28).
Top power play threat Ryan Brushett is also back after going 8-14-22 and netting a team-high five PPGs in 2021-22.
Team rookie-of-the-year candidate Matt Crasa netted 12 goals, including four game-winners.
On defense, Ben Meehan was 5-9-14 last season and picked up an assist in last week’s opener.
Blueliner Isaac Johnson led the team with two points last weekend and earned 10 helpers in 2021-22.
And there’s graduate senior Jon McDonald, who scored once and notched nine assists last season. He is the only player for either team to have dressed for that 2018-19 series at Cady Arena.
In net, Fairbanks three-year starter and transfer Gustavs Grigals turned 27 shots aside last week in UML’s 4-0 win over St. Lawrence. Henry Welsch, who played in six games last season, appears slated for the No. 2 role.
This series is actually the back end of that Oxford weekend in 2018, a set that was pushed back multiple seasons due to COVID and is the final non-conference obligation from the Enrico Blasi era.
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