Irish can't climb from early hole

SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame trailed 2-0 in the first two minutes of the game and could never recover Thursday night, as the Irish (5-4-2, 2-2-1 Hockey East) suffered a 4-1 loss to UMass-Lowell (8-3-2, 4-1-0).

The same two teams meet again Friday at 7:35 p.m.

C.J Smith gave the River Hawks a 1-0 lead just 35 seconds into the first period and then Ryan Lohin made it a 2-0 lead at 1:46 of the second period.

Connor Hurley got the Irish on the board with his third goal of the season at 6:18 of the second, but Evan Campbell was able to convert on a 2-on-0 to make it a 3-1 game at 13:44 of the second.

With goaltender Cal Petersen heading to the Notre Dame bench in favor of the extra attacker, Smith added an empty net goal at 17:56 of the third for the final 4-1 scoreline.

Notre Dame was 0-for-4 on the power play, but the Irish also held UMass Lowell to 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

Petersen made some big stops throughout the night as he was called upon to shut down several odd-man rushes by the River Hawks. He finished with 31 saves.

"We have to be better, plain and simple," said Irish coach Jeff Jackson. "We have to execute the things that we preach and do and practice every day. We have to execute those things. That's a matter of willingness. They have to have the will to go out there and do the things that are going to help them be successful, especially against a good team like that."