By Anthony Panciocco and Jacob Posik

The University of Maine women’s ice hockey team recorded their first victory of the season Friday afternoon and skated back from a three-goal deficit Saturday to improve to 1-12-5 on the season.

Their opponent, Brown University, sees their record dip to 1-9-3.

UMaine travels to Connecticut for a pair of road games against Union College Dec. 13 and 14. Brown doesn’t get back into action until the first weekend of January when they host Cornell University and Colgate University on back-to-back days.

Kilgour, Fujimagari lead Black Bears to first win

Another solid performance in net from freshman Mariah Fujimagari led the University of Maine women’s ice hockey team to their first win of the season against Brown University Friday afternoon.

“What’s good about this game is I feel like it was their most complete game, and they got rewarded for it,” UMaine coach Richard Reichenbach said. “It wasn’t that they played poorly and snuck by, but they played really well for three periods and were rewarded with the win.”

UMaine sophomore forward Audra Richards had a good opportunity to put the Black Bears up early in the first period. She stole a bouncing puck 20 seconds in and streaked down the ice on a breakaway only to have it poked away by Brown senior goaltender and captain Aubree Moore.

The Black Bears had another good chance just one minute later when Brown sophomore forward Kelly Micholson was called for tripping, giving UMaine the first power play of the day. The Brown defense held tight, however, and did not allow a shot on the power play.

UMaine junior forward Katy Massey netted her second goal of the year 3:25 into the first period, sending a wrist shot past Moore to give the Black Bears an early 1-0 lead. Assists were credited to freshman defenseman Jess Vallotton and senior forward Brianne Kilgour.

The Black Bears added their second goal of the game with four minutes left in the period. Following a penalty on Brown junior forward Kaitlyn Keon for holding, Kilgour wrapped around the net and backhanded a shot past Moore for her fourth tall of the year. Senior defenseman Kelly McDonald and freshman forward Karissa Kirkup assisted on the play.

The two teams battled back and forth in the second period without either team being able to get the better of the other.

Fujimagari had a strong second period, saving 10 shots on goal and helped the Black Bears kill off two penalties. She would finish with 20 saves on the day. Reichenbach talked very highly of his team’s goaltending after the game.

“The thing about our goaltending is that we have three really good goaltenders,” Reichenbach said. “I think Mariah’s playing great, I think Meghann [Treacy] has played well, and I think Natalie [Robinson] is very good also. We are very fortunate in that department.”

Things got dangerous late in the third period when Brown freshman forward Erin Conway took a rebound and put it past Fujimagari to cut the lead in half. Junior forward Sarah Robson was credited with the assist. The Black Bears would hold on for the 2-1 victory despite late pressure from Brown.

While Fujimagari played well in goal, Reichenbach could not give an answer about who the starting goaltender would be going forward. Fujimagari has started four games on the season and has a goals against average of 2.96, good enough for first on the team.

“The way our program is built, it’s all about competition and how you work throughout the week and on the weekends,” Reichenbach said. “There’s no job that’s safe for any position.”

McDonald’s three points help Black Bears battle back, earn draw in game two

The Black Bears battled back from a three-goal deficit to tie Brown Saturday afternoon. Senior defender Kelly McDonald tallied two assists and a goal in the comeback effort.

Brown came out swinging in game two after giving up UMaine’s lone win of the season the day before.

Junior forward Kaitlyn Keon sent a pass through the slot which was collected by fellow junior forward Janice Yang, who sent a wrist shot past Fujimagari just two minutes into action. It was Yang’s seventh goal of the season.

Brown remained in control through the second, where they tallied two more goals.

The first goal of the second came by senior defender Jennifer Nedow on the power play. UMaine sophomore defender Brooklyn Langlois was sent to the penalty box for interference, which opened things up for Brown. On the power play, they got great puck movement offensively before Nedow got a clear shot from the point, sending a clapper that Fujimagari couldn’t catch up to.

The Bears added another goal with nine minutes remaining in the second. On a loose puck in front of the Black Bears net, Brown forward Catherine LeBoeuf skated in and chipped the puck past Fujimagari for Brown’s third tally of the game.

“We were struggling early defensively,” Reichenbach said. “We weren’t stopping the puck well enough and it was catching up with us on the scoreboard.”

UMaine outshot Brown through two periods by a margin of 27-18, but was having trouble finding the back of the net.

The Black Bears netted a goal with just two minutes remaining in the second. McDonald found junior defender Brittney Huneke open in the offensive end, and Huneke sent a slap shot ripping by freshman netminder Monica Elvin for her first goal of the year.

Brown led 3-1 entering the third, where oddly both teams made changes in net. Fujimagari was replaced by Treacy for the Black Bears, while Elvin was pulled in favor of sophomore goaltender Micaela Ross.

The Black Bears pulled within one goal when McDonald found Richards open in the slot who sent a wrist shot soaring by Ross just minutes into the third. McDonald tallied her team leading sixth assist on the play, and her stellar performance didn’t end there.

“I was just trying to be active with the puck,” McDonald said. “I wanted to give my teammates opportunities to score.”

On the offensive attack, Black Bear freshman forward Karissa Kirkup sent a pass from the corner that found the end of McDonald’s stick. McDonald rifled a shot from just feet away, and Ross was unable to make the save. After spreading the wealth, McDonald knotted a goal of her own, tying the game with just 1:22 remaining in regulation.

“I’m glad we battled back,” Reichenbach said. “I know we can play well when we put in 60 minutes of effort.”

Neither team was capable of scoring in the overtime period where UMaine outshot Brown 2-1, finishing with a 39-26 edge in shots overall.

Brown’s goaltenders combined to stop 36 pucks, Elvin with 23 and Ross with 13, while the Black Bear netminders combined to make 23 saves, 12 from starter Fujimagari and 11 from Treacy.