The win marked the first time this season that Lowell, whose record improved to 4-8-1, has won back-to-back games.

"Tonight's game was a tough battle," said Lowell head coach Tim Whitehead. "We got through the game tonight; we gutted it out. The more close games you win, the more confidence you get."

Lowell had not fared well in close games this season. The River Hawks were 0-5 in games decided by two goals or less entering Saturday night.

Whitehead was extremely pleased by the breakthrough performance of Treille.

"Yorick hustled all weekend," said Whitehead. "At the same time he played strong defense, and when he had the puck he just came alive."

In addition to his goal Saturday night, Treille scored a natural hat trick Friday to give him a four-goal weekend.

"It feels good to score some goals," said Treille, who hails from Grenoble, France. "We've been having a tough time scoring goals and now they're starting to come, so hopefully they can carry on to the next weekend."

Air Force coach Frank Serratore was pleased by his team's performance on the weekend but recognized that Lowell had the upper hand.

"We got beat by a better team tonight," said Serratore. "They have more maturity and they played at a higher speed. We had four gears tonight while they had five."

In net for Air Force, Marc Kielkucki was stellar for the second consecutive night. He added 32 saves in the loss to his 23-save shutout of Yale in the opening round.

"Marc gave us a chance tonight and that's all you can ask of a goaltender," said Serratore. "He's a legitimate NHL prospect. At 6-4, and athletic as he is, I'm sure you can't show me a goaltender in the American [Hockey] League like that."

The first period saw no scoring and little action save a major penalty called by referee Jim Doyle. The infraction was whistled against Lowell's Brad Rooney for hitting from behind, and carried with it a game misconduct.

But the Air Force power play was unable to muster any offense over the five minutes, actually being outshot, 2-1, by the River Hawks during the man advantage.

In the second period, the pace of the offense slowed down considerably with the two teams combining for nine shots.

Air Force got one of its few scoring opportunities at the three-minute mark when they skated up ice two-on-one. But a great defensive play by Lowell's Josh Reed broke up the play.

At 15:53, though, the River Hawks broke the deadlock when Kevin Bertram scored his third goal of the season on the power play. With Air Force's Scott Zweirs in the box for interference, Dan Fontas worked the puck to the left point to Bertram. He blasted a shot that seemed to deflect off an Air Force defender and past Kielkucki for the 1-0 lead.

Just seconds later, Lowell looked to extend the lead, but junior Kyle Kidney's one-timer sailed off the crossbar. This was part of a late period offense that helped Lowell to a 6-2 shot advantage for the period and a 18-6 advantage through two.

In the third period, the River Hawks totally dominated the Falcons and if it wasn't for Kielkucki the score might have been 5-0.

And at 5:50, Treille scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on a breakaway. Josh Reed found Treille alone on the right wing and fed a perfect pass that allowed him to skate in alone on Kielkucki. Treille's backhand shot was placed perfectly under the crossbar to give Lowell a 2-0 lead.

But at 10:25 of the third, Lowell's Jeff Boulanger took an undisciplined roughing penalty, and the Falcons made Lowell pay on the ensuing power play. Andy Berg blasted a rebound of a Scott Bradley shot past goaltender Cam McCormick to close the gap to 2-1.

"Boulanger's penalty almost cost us," said Whitehead. "They scored on the power play and it was 2-1. The good news was that [a penalty like that] was the exception, not the rule tonight."

But Lowell responded just 45 seconds later when Mark Concannon finished off a two-on-one with Nick Carso. Carso took a pass from Kyle Kidney, raced down the right-wing side and feathered a pass to Concannon. He then pulled the goalie out of position and slid it past the fallen netminder for the 3-1 lead.

"That was a big goal by Lowell following our goal," Serratore said. "That's where teams can steal one. You get back within one and they can tighten up, and the next goal's a big goal. And they came back and got it. Good teams do that."

In addition to the MVP, the tournament committee also presented the All-Tournament team. The team was comprised of forwards Matt Herhal from UConn and Treille, and Lowell's Chris Bell; Lowell's Kevin Bertram and Chris Gustafson on defense; and Kielkucki as the goaltender.