Senior forward Joe Gambardella of UMass Lowell won the Walter Brown Award as the best American-born college hockey player in New England.

Gambardella is the first UMass Lowell player to win the award, which was established in 1953 and is the sport’s oldest nationally recognized honor.

The Staten Island, N.Y., native is the team’s leading scorer with 18 goals and 33 assists for 51 points.

With help from Gambardella’s third-period goal, UMass Lowell took home its third Hockey East tournament championship in five years with a 4-3 victory over Boston College last Saturday.

The River Hawks are the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Regional of the NCAA Tournament and will face off against Cornell Saturday in Manchester, N.H.

Gambardella also received Hockey East’s Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive year.

“Joe Gambardella has developed greatly as a man and a student-athlete throughout his four years,’’ said UMass Lowell coach Norm Bazin.

Gambardella edged Northeastern senior forward and Hobey Baker finalist Zach Aston-Reese and New Hampshire senior forward Tyler Kelleher for the Brown Award, which will be presented at the New England College Hockey Writers’ Dinner April 11 at the Prince Restaurant in Saugus.

Karl Capen can be reached at karl.capen@globe.com.