Hockey Game at the Tsongas Arena

The men’s ice hockey team had unexpectedly lost the first game of the season after being ranked the best college team in America. Although they did win their next game, the sting of losing after all the hype was still felt by the hockey fans of UMass Lowell. Now they would play their third game of the season against Quinnipiac, the national runner-up in last years tournament. However, it was my first college hockey game as a part of a college fan base, and I walked through the doors of the Tsongas Arena not knowing what to expect. Was the hockey game going to be sloppy yet exciting like those of my high school or was it going to be clean cut and professional like we watch on TV?

Students were packed into the student section, but the rest of the seating was sporadically filled by locals and other students. Blue and red decorated the entire arena, and the fans were excited to get the game under way. Boo’s met the opposing team as they hopped onto the ice, while a roar of cheers greeted the Riverhawks from the tunnel. The atmosphere was filled by a nervous hope that the opening loss was nothing more than a fluke.

The first period of the game was back and forth, up and down the ice, but neither team found a way to put the puck in the back of the net. I was pleased to see how excited the fans got when a promising play developed. Tensity was felt all over the crowd, and gasps of excitement and nervousness were constantly matched by sighs of disappointment and relief. Both the team and the fans of UMass Lowell knew how important a victory would be.

After a fifteen minute break from all of the action, the teams came back onto the ice. The second period held more surprises than the first, but they were not in our favor. Quinnipiac scored three times in the second, and with each goal, it seemed like the energy of Lowell’s players diminished. The momentum of the game was clearly in the away team’s favor, and UML’s chances were looking slim. Fans began to look at one another as if their friends could explain what was making everything go wrong. The mood felt in the arena had changed over the course of twenty minutes.

The Riverhawks came out during the third period with an extra hop in their step. They knew they had a lot of pressure on their shoulders during the final period of the game. High expectations needed to be met, and the team did everything they could to meet them. Every shot that the home team took on net was pleaded to go in by the fans, and every save made on opposing shots was thanked. When UMass Lowell scored in the middle of the period, the student section erupted. It was a great experience to witness a goal by my school’s team at the college level. A spectator that had no knowledge of the score or the game situation would have thought that the team had just won a close game in overtime. The hope of a comeback suddenly became a bit more realistic, and the fans began to cheer a little louder. The common thought seemed to be that if they scored three goals in one period, so can we. The game went on, and with every failed shot attempt the hope of winning began to fade. As the final horn sounded, the scoreboard read 3-1 in favor of the away team.

Although the end result was disappointing, Riverhawk students shrugged it off rather easily. I heard more than one fan say something along the lines of “Hey, last year started the same way and look at how it turned out then.” We were reminded that it was only the third game of a very long season and that there was plenty of time to turn things around. I was impressed by the optimism being passed around the UML fan base, and it made me more excited for the intensity of the games later in the season. After losing another one to Quinnipiac, the Riverhawks hockey team has won five straight games, a good sign for things to come.

Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus

At around noon time on a brisk Sunday in early November, I took the Riverhawk Roadster shuttle to the Kennedy Center Station. My girlfriend caught the commuter rail from North Station earlier in the morning, as we had made plans to explore the streets of downtown Lowell together. After several trips for various classes and a night out for dinner with my family, I was intrigued as to what else there was to a city with such a diverse and rich history. Being from south of Boston, there was no prior familiarity with me and Lowell before coming to school at UMass, besides learning about the textile mills in middle school.

My girlfriend and I took the shuttle from the station to the ICC and from there our adventure began. We walked north Central Street and took a left turn onto Market as we headed to the Bew’d Awakening Coffeehaus. My best friend’s dad is an avid supporter of the coffee shop, and every time he comes up to visit he reminds us to stop by one day during our free time. Once I realized I finally had an opportunity to check it out, I took advantage of it. My girlfriend and I passed a few elderly people sitting at the tables outside and walked into a wall of coffee flavored aroma. The tables of the coffeehaus were painted with bright and vivid colors that matched the pleasant atmosphere within them. Paintings and photographs by local artists decorated every wall and corner of the shop, each with a price tag under them. The color and lighting of the place was welcoming and set a happy mood from the moment we walked in.

Unfortunately, and this remains a regret in my mind, we ordered hot chocolate...at a coffee shop known for its brilliant coffee. The hot cocoa served to us in the homestyle mugs was certainly delicious, but I wish we had tasted what all the hype was about. I’ll have to go back there again soon, with my mind focused only on trying their coffee.

We left Brew’d Awakening, and found ourselves walking down Palmer street. With the cobble stone road and the large brick buildings on either side, it wouldn’t be hard to forget if one was in the late 1800s or early 2000s. The old street signs dating back to who knows when are still engraved into the bricks of the buildings on each street corner. I’m always fascinated by places like Lowell, such as Boston, Portland, ME and Portsmouth, NH (just to name a few). The beauties of their histories are all laid out for us to marvel at, and I highly recommend that anyone take an opportunity to walk down streets like Palmer Street. During a time when technology has replaced much of our past, we must enjoy hidden gems in our communities such as this street in Lowell.

As we continued to wander the historical streets of downtown Lowell, our eyes were opened to how wonderful the city really is. We ended up at the Kerouac Commemorative Park without any intention of doing so. We walked around the pillars and read the quotes from his various stories. From there we followed the old trolley tracks. After walking by a few, less known mills, we found ourselves in front of the Boott Cotton Mill. We walked into the courtyard and tried to imagine what it would have been like 150 years ago when it was packed with laborers. From the Boott Mill we headed back towards UMass Lowell’s East campus.

Wandering through the streets of downtown Lowell gave me a true appreciation of what surrounds the school I go to. The smokestacks that can be seen from any corner of the city, the Merrimack river that gracefully winds through the trees, and the old cobblestone roads and brick buildings all exemplify the city of Lowell’s rich and enduring history. The restaurants, the parks, and the historical sites are turning Lowell around after so many years of struggle. The city has certainly made a turn for the better, and I find it remarkable that with so much change going on it has been able to maintain the history that is so rare in today’s American societies.