NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. -- Despite a more even period in the shots on goal department, the No. 10/12 UMass Lowell River Hawks added to their lead and hit the second intermission with a commanding 3-0 lead on the No. 17 Merrimack Warriors at J. Thom Lawler Arena.
Lowell held a 10-6 edge in the second period to add up to a 24-13 mark through 40 minutes.
Freshman defender Greg Amlong scored the first goal of his River Hawk career at the 7:09 mark of the stanza as he centered in a pass from Joseph Pendenza, a local junior from Wilmington, Mass. Sophomore Zack Kamrass was credited with the secondary assist, setting up the play for his tenth assist and point of the year.
Merrimack's golden chance came in the final four minutes as junior Mike Collins fed classmate Shawn Bates in the right circle, but the shot was kicked away by UML's Connor Hellebuyck.
Joshua Kummins covers Hockey East for SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.