2020–21 UMass Lowell River Hawks men's ice hockey season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Massachusetts–Lowell's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]

UMass-Lowell was heavily impacted by COVID-19 early in the season. After a delayed start, the team played just 4 games in the first two months of the campaign. Entering their game with UMass on the 29th of January, Lowell had played just 4 games while the Minutemen had competed in 17. The lack of playing time appeared to hurt the River Hawks since the team, which had been highly ranked entering the season, swiftly fell out of the top-20. UML appeared to regain its form by the end of the regular season, but by then their only path into the NCAA Tournament was with a conference championship. The River Hawks won their first postseason game without much difficulty and entered the quarterfinals having to beat Boston University to stay alive. Despite being on a 4-game unbeaten streak, Owen Savory was replaced as the starting goaltender by freshman Henry Welsch and the move paid off. While he only faced 17 shots in the game, Welsch turned aside all but one and helped Lowell advance to the semifinals. Here the team's run was expected to end as they faced the top ranked team in the nation, Boston College. The Eagles built a 3-goal lead after two periods and looked to be sailing into the championship, but the River Hawks' offense awoke in the third, scoring three times to tie the game. Less than two minutes later, however, BC was again in the lead with a power play goal. Welsch was pulled for an extra attacker and in less than a minute UML had again tied the score. It took another 34 minutes of game time for the winning goal to be scored and UML's Matt Brown netted the biggest goal for the River Hawks all season.

Lowell faced off against Massachusetts for the Hockey East championship. Welsch continued his strong play but the Minutemen defense was stifling, allowed the Hawks only 16 shots on goal, none of which found the back of the net. UMass Lowell has to settle for second place but the team had redeemed itself for an otherwise disappointing campaign.

Ben McEvoy sat out the season.

As of February 12, 2021.[3]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Logan Neaton	Sophomore	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-04-07	Brighton, Michigan	Prince George (BCHL)	WPG, 144th overall 2019
2		Dominick Procopio	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-06-11	Grosse Pointe, Michigan	Shreveport (NAHL)	—
4		Sam Knoblauch	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-02-15	Rochester, Michigan	Carleton Place (CCHL)	—
5		Chase Blackmun	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-04-02	Hudson, Wisconsin	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
7		Jordan Schulting	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-08-06	Penticton, British Columbia	Coquitlam (BCHL)	—
8		Nik Armstrong-Kingkade	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-05-01	Alexandria, Virginia	Minot (NAHL)	—
9		Reid Stefanson	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-02-20	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
10		Matt Brown	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-08-09	Wood-Ridge, New Jersey	Des Moines (USHL)	—
11		Jon McDonald	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-06-15	Livonia, Michigan	Fargo (USHL)	—
12		Charlie Levesque (C)	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-05-29	Russell, Ontario	Hawkesbury (CCHL)	—
13		Austin O'Rourke	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	1997-08-17	Canton, Georgia	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
14		Ben Meehan	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-04-20	Walpole, Massachusetts	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	LAK, 140th overall 2020
15		Jackson Sterrett	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1999-06-24	Hendersonville, Tennessee	Maryland (NAHL)	—
16		Josh Latta	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-08-14	West Vancouver, British Columbia	Alabama Huntsville (WCHA)	—
17		Marek Korenčík	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-07-19	Žilina, Slovakia	Luleå J20 (J20 SuperElit)	—
18		Carl Berglund	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-01-16	Hammarö, Sweden	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
19		Anthony Baxter	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-11-26	Oakville, Ontario	Burlington (OJHL)	—
20		Matt Allen	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	2000-05-13	Minco, Oklahoma	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
21		Brian Chambers	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-07-24	Weymouth, Massachusetts	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
22		Blake Wells	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-08-02	Blackie, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	—
23		Zach Kaiser	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-09-06	Orangeville, Ontario	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	—
24		Lucas Condotta (A)	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	209 lb (95 kg)	1997-11-06	Georgetown, Ontario	Markham (OJHL)	—
25		Nolan Sawchuk	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-09-25	Burnsville, Minnesota	Minot (NAHL)	—
26		Andre Lee	Sophomore	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-07-26	Karlstad, Sweden	Sioux Falls (USHL)	LAK, 188th overall 2019
27		Seth Barton	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-08-18	Kelowna, British Columbia	Trail (BCHL)	DET, 81st overall 2018
28		Connor Sodergren (C)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1996-09-11	Tewksbury, Massachusetts	West Kelowna (BCHL)	—
29		Matt Kinash	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-12-15	Edmonton, Alberta	Drayton Valley (AJHL)	—
30		Benjamin McEvoy	Senior	G	6' 5" (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1998-10-13	Dunstable, Massachusetts	Groton-Dunstable (USHS–MA)	—
31		Owen Savory	Junior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-10-11	Cambridge, Ontario	RPI (ECAC)	—
33		Henry Welsch	Freshman	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-11-17	Lakeville, Minnesota	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
37		Brehdan Engum	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	2000-08-10	Burnsville, Minnesota	Waterloo (USHL)	—

[6]

[7]

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[8]