Sophomore Mason Kucenski stopped 28 shots to keep the Saint's deficit at one goal. Still, an empty-net goal sent the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team to a 2-0 loss to No. 16 UMass Lowell in their first game of the Adirondack Winter Invitational on Friday night at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The Scarlet and Brown fell to 4-10-0 on the year, while the River Hawks improved to 10-3-0.

Kucenski was sharp in goal from the get-go and had to face a pair of good Lowell chances in the first five minutes that he turned away.

Senior captain Mason Waite, Jan Olenginski, and Reilly Connors would counter with chances on the other end of the sheet, but their shots were just wide of the goal keeping the game even.

Another small flurry of shots from the River Hawks swung momentum back the other way and it eventually led to a power play chance for their offense.

The Saints, who boast one of the best penalty kill units in the nation allowed just one shot attempt on the chance and the game eventually went to the break at 0-0.

St. Lawrence came out much stronger in the second period and pushed the play in the offensive end. Fellow Quebecois Greg Lapointe and Isack Bandu had chances in the first three minutes but had their chances stymied by Beni Halasz.

Despite the much-improved play, the River Hawks found the board first and capitalized on a long St. Lawrence shift. With the defense caught in their zone with tired legs, Dillan Bentley found himself with open space and beat the goalie to make it 1-0 Lowell.

Following the media timeout, the Saints once again applied pressure offensively but Tomáš Mazura, Felikss Gavars, and the St. Lawrence offense once again came up empty. The Saints were given their lone power play late in the second period but the game went into the intermission at 1-0.

The Saints' power play went to work once again in the third killing an early chance for the River Hawks. It looked as if the Scarlet and Brown were going to get a chance of their own following the kill on a tripping call, but another infraction cost them the chance and made it a 4-on-4.

Following the penalties, it looked as if the Saints had tied the game when a Connors wrist shot squeezed through the pads of Halasz and was trickling towards the line. A quick whistle from the crew and a video review led to a no-goal call keeping the game at 1-0.

St. Lawrence pulled their goalie for the extra attacker with under two minutes remaining and produced numerous chances to score. Shots from Connors, Philippe Chapleau, and Naaykens all threatened the goal but they couldn't find twine.

Lowell would instead score on an empty-net goal by Scott Truman to close out the contest.

Kucenski stopped 28 of the 29 that came his way, while Halasz stopped 20 shots in the shutout.

St. Lawrence went 0-for-1 on the power play but conversely went 3-for-3 killing penalties in the game.

The Scarlet and Brown will be back at Herb Brooks Arena tomorrow for game two of the Adirondack Winter Invitational. The puck drop between the Saints and No. 10 Providence will be at 4 p.m.