On Oct. 25 and 26, the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team took on the Northeastern University Huskies at Matthews Arena. Maine had not won a game at Matthews Arena since 2012, a curse they finally broke. The Black Bears were coming off a weekend sweep with Quinnipiac and looked to continue the win streak against a stellar Hockey East opponent.
Nine minutes into the period, Huskies first-year forward Joe Connor received a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Black Bears went to work, but no goals were scored. The period ended scoreless, and the shots were equal at nine per team.
In the second period, Northeastern came out with some energy, forcing another save by Maine’s first year goalie Albin Boija. About one minute into the second period, the Black Bears went onto the penalty kill after third-year defenseman Brandon Holt committed a slash. Northeastern could not get any goals on the power play, as Boija saved everything coming his way. A few minutes later, fourth-year forward Harrison Scott had a breakaway, and Husky second-year goalie Cameron Whitehead was ready with the save.
Six minutes into the period, a frenzy of penalties were called. Second-year defenseman Frank Djurasevic headed to the box for tripping. Quickly into Northeastern’s power play, Husky fourth-year forward Ryan McGuire got called for a slash. Seconds later, second-year defenseman Jack Dalton visited the box for tripping. Twenty seconds after the penalty kills, the Black Bears went onto another man advantage as second-year defenseman Nolan Hayes was sent to the penalty box for tripping.
Third-year forward Thomas Freel scored the game’s first goal on the power play, assisted by Holt and second-year forward Charlie Russell. Two minutes later, Taylor Makar scored, assisted by Russell and Dalton. Dalton gained his first career point as a Black Bear. The period ended 2-0 Maine.
In the third period, the Huskies tried to spark a comeback, but Boija stopped the shots that the Huskies threw at him. With two minutes left in the game, Connor took another penalty, this time for hooking. Thirty seconds into the man advantage, third-year Owen Fowler went into the penalty box for slashing.
Eleven seconds into the four-on-four, Scott scored an empty net goal, assisted by Freel. With a minute left in the game, third-year forward Cam Lund scored a breakaway goal assisted by third-year forward Jack Williams and third-year defenseman Vinny Borgesi.
In the last minute of the game, fourth-year forward Nolan Renwick stole the puck in the defensive zone, skated it up the ice, and added a second empty net goal to seal the 4-1 victory.
Northeastern started game two very well, opening the scoring two minutes into the first period. The goal was scored by third-year forward Nick Rhéaume and assisted by Borgesi and first-year forward Griffin Erdman.
Two minutes into the second period, the Huskies doubled their lead with another goal by Lund, his fourth goal in four games, assisted by second-year forward Dylan Hryckowian and Williams.
Six minutes into the second period, second-year forward Anthony Calafiore drew a penalty for goalie interference. A minute into the penalty kill, Northeastern’s Borgesi was called for interference, but Fowler was also sent to the box for embellishment. Neither team scored any goals during all the penalties.
Two minutes later, first-year forward Ben Poitras served a five-minute major for face masking, a critical mistake in letting Maine back into the game. Three minutes into the man advantage, Holt scored his second goal of the season. Scott and Russell assisted the goal. Despite Maine outshooting Northeastern 26-17, the Huskies led 2-1 after 40 minutes.
In the third period, the Black Bears’ offense came out ready in an attempt to tie the game. Six minutes into the period, the Black Bears went on a power play, as the Huskies had too many men on the ice. The Black Bears tried to tie the game up, but were unsuccessful.
Nine minutes into the period, second-year forward Sully Scholle scored his first goal of the season to tie the game, assisted by first-year forward Oskar Komarov. Komarov gained his first collegiate point as a Black Bear. After back and forth action to end the third period, the game went into overtime.
In overtime, Northeastern outshot Maine 5-1 and forced Boija to make a few saves to keep the game going. Makar committed the only penalty in overtime, tripping up a Husky while successfully defending a two-on-one with three seconds left.
Each team earned one point from the tie, but the game headed to a shootout to determine who would earn the third point. Russell scored on Maine’s first attempt, Boija made two saves and Scholle secured the shootout win for the Black Bears by scoring.
Maine ended the weekend with a 1-0-1 record, taking five of six Hockey East points from Northeastern. They will return to Alfond Arena Nov. 1 and 2 to take on Merrimack College.