ORONO, Maine — When Owen Fowler decided to transfer from UMass Lowell to the University of Maine to continue his hockey career, he took a look at the schedule to see when his new team would play his old team.
The answer is Friday and Saturday when the seventh-ranked UMaine Black Bears visit eighth-ranked UMass Lowell. UMaine has beaten the River Hawks three times in their last four meetings, but the Black Bears have not beaten them at Tsongas Arena since November 2017.
It will be a homecoming in another way for Fowler. He is from Tewksbury, about five miles away from the school that he attended.
“Lots of family and friends are going to be there,” said Fowler. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great battle.”
Fowler, a junior who has played both wing and center for the Black Bears, has racked up five goals and seven assists for the Black Bears in 19 games. Those are the same numbers he put up in 33 games two years ago at UMass Lowell before sitting out all of last year due to a lower body injury.
There are a lot of similarities between the two Hockey East programs, he said. Both focus on details and protecting the net and work out from there. Both teams have just one NHL draft pick, while the three Boston schools in the conference have 13 (Boston University), 12 (Boston College) and seven (Northeastern).
“We pride ourselves on working hard and wearing teams down and beating them in the third period,” Fowler said of the Black Bears.
UMaine has outscored its opponents 25-13 in the third period this season. The Black Bears enter the series as the nation’s second-best defensive team among the 64 Division I programs, allowing only 1.74 goals per game. UMass Lowell is a respectable 16th, giving up 2.39 per contest.
“Both teams use their physicality to their advantage and you will definitely see that this weekend,” Fowler said.
The Black Bears will go into the series having scored only five goals in their last three games despite outshooting their opponents 121-64. Just two of the goals were even-strength goals.
They outshot Bentley 45-19 in a 4-2 loss in Portland, Denver 30-24 in a 2-1 loss on Friday night in Orono and Denver 46-21 in a 2-1 victory on Saturday night. UMaine coach Ben Barr keyed in on those gaps this week.
“It’s not a lack of chances; it’s not a lack of effort,” he said. “It’s a lack of finishing and a lack of fighting that little extra around the net.”
Fowler said that UMaine cannot be a one-and-done team and must generate not getting traffic in front of the net for second and third chances.
“There have been a ton of rebounds for us to bury and, unfortunately, the last two weekends we haven’t done it so much,” he said.
The Black Bears and the River Hawks will face off at 7:15 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday, respectively.
