Northeastern 4, UMass-Lowell 4: River Hawks fall short of Division I-record streak in tie at Matthews

BOSTON -- For the first time in nine games, UMass-Lowell was not victorious in a hockey game.

Although it came back for two goals in the final period to earn a Hockey East point on road ice, its chances for a Division I-record winning streak were halted in a 4-4 draw with the Northeastern Huskies at Matthews Arena. It marked the first time UML lost a point in conference or fell in any game since Dec. 1, 2012 when it suffered its second defeat in a row to New Hampshire.

Setting a record for UML's longest unbeaten streak at the Division I level is still in reach as a 14-game stretch without defeat occurred during the 2004-05 season.

Despite an 11-10 shots advantage for the River Hawks in the first period, neither team had much in the way of quality offense as NU senior Bryan Mountain and UML junior Doug Carr made stops on each of the opportunities they saw. Plenty of rebounds were left out on the ice, however, but the scoreboard read 0-0 when the buzzer sounded.

In the final four minutes of the stanza, junior Joseph Pendenza had likely the best chance as he grabbed the careen on the right side of the crease, but missed a wide open net.

The offenses came alive in the second as the Huskies took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission, with all three scores coming on just seven shots on goal. NU's two final goals in the stanza came off the hot stick of freshman Kevin Roy, who has now scored five goals and 12 points in his last six games.

NU jumped ahead to the first lead of the game at 3:13 as senior Garrett Vermeersch put a power-play deflection past Carr for just his second score of the season and first since the season-opening home win over Merrimack on Oct. 10, 2012. Just over a minute later, at 4:30, the River Hawks knotted the score as rookie A.J. White slipped a third-effort chance past Mountain on the post.

The River Hawks held their first lead of the game on a fluky goal from junior Chad Ruhwedel at 6:48 as he took a shot from center ice that trickled past a napping Mountain in the net for the Huskies. With the goal, the San Diego, Calif. native extended his scoring streak to four straight games and scored the ninth goal by a UML defender in the last nine contests.

Roy scored his two goals exactly six minutes apart and from opposite wings of the ice. At 10:52, Roy took the drop pass from senior Vinny Saponari in the left circle for the score, before doing the same from freshman Michael McMurtry later in the stanza.

Just 1:41 into the third, the Huskies took the lead by two goals as junior Cody Ferriero took an initial shot from between the circles and senior Steve Morra was on the spot on the crease to tip it over the line for his first-career goal for the Huskies, beating UML sophomore Brian Robbins, who replaced Carr in his first game action of the campaign.

With the goal, the Bristol, R.I. native surpassed his previous record point streak, which now sits at three games. He posted assist in both of NU's games at Boston University and against Boston College last weekend.

UML would not let its streak go so easily as it scored twice in a span of 12 minutes to tie the score and force overtime.

First at 4:38, junior defenseman Daniel Furlong let a long shot from the point sail through traffic and over the shoulder of Mountain for his first goal of the season.

Junior Derek Arnold's fourth of the year squared the count at 4-4 at 15:18 of the third as senior Riley Wetmore took the initial shot that held up Mountain across the crease, allowing the Foxboro, Mass. native to lunge and put the puck in the back of the net for the second consecutive game.

Both Carr and Robbins made 14 saves for the River Hawks, but Robbins, a Scotrun, Penn. native, took the decision for the first time this year. For NU, Mountain made 41 saves, including 21 in the final 25 minutes for his second tie.

The teams return to the ice on Saturday night, but the location will shift to UMass-Lowell's Tsongas Center for the second time in the three Hockey East meetings between the teams this season.

Joshua Kummins covers Hockey East for SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.