The University of Maine field hockey team fell to a tough Columbia University Lions squad 3-2 on Sunday, Sept. 15. 

Columbia went right to work out of the gates, drawing a penalty corner in the opening minutes of the game. Off a scramble, second-year midfielder Allison Smith put home her third goal of the season to put the Lions on top, 1-0. In the seventh minute, Columbia used another corner to generate three shots that were all denied but were awarded a penalty stroke that fourth-year midfielder Kelsey Farkas buried to double the advantage. Farkas doubled her tally 20 minutes into the contest, giving Columbia a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. 

However, Maine broke up the shutout bid at the half-hour mark, off of a score from second-year forward Chloe Walton to make it 3-1 heading into the break. The Black Bears responded in the second and made it 3-2 on fourth-year Brianna Ricker’s goal off a corner 10 minutes in. Maine tallied four shots in the fourth quarter hunting for the equalizer, but couldn’t convert any of their chances and fell by the 3-2 final count. Columbia improves to 3-1 on the season. 

UMaine was outscored early once more, this time by the Northeastern University Huskies, in a 6-3 defeat on Friday, Sept. 20. 

The Huskies stormed out to a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute of action as first-year back Lauren Rowe put back a point-blank shot past Black Bears’ second-year goaltender Mia Borley. The Black Bears evened the score in the second quarter when first-year forward Julia Ross scored her first collegiate goal. Before the end of the half was up the Huskies made it a 2-1 game as second-year midfielder Lexie Dunleavy put in her second goal of the season. Walton came out and evened things at two goals apiece with a rebound put-back goal in the first three minutes of the third quarter. 

Less than a minute later, Rowe netted her second goal of the game, and her seventh of the season, to put the Huskies back on top 3-2. Third-year forward Melanie Weber made it a two-goal game a few minutes later with some assistance from first-year forward Alli Meehan and third-year forward Camille O’Conor to put the Huskies up by three before the end of the quarter. The Black Bears came back onto the field with renewed motivation in the fourth quarter, which was further amplified when fourth-year midfielder Riley Field netted a goal just over a minute into the frame. Fourth-year forward Kasidy Anderson got it back five minutes later with yet another helper coming from Rowe to give the Huskies a 6-3 advantage. The Huskies would hang on to beat the Black Bears as Maine falls to 1-5 on the season.

The Black Bears’ will play host to the Merrimack College Warriors in their next contest Saturday, Sept. 28. at 1 pm.

On Sunday, Sept. 8, the University of Maine field hockey team fell to the Kent State Golden Flashes 2-1, dropping to a 0-3 record on the young season. 

The Flashes got on the board twelve minutes into the game, when fourth-year midfielder Berta Jover Llorens carried the ball up the right side of the goal line and passed it to second-year forward Luisa Knapp for her third goal of the season. Kent State’s third year back Clara Rodriguez Seto put them ahead 2-0 with a one-timer tip-in from fourth-year forward Laila Richter 22 minutes into the first half. 

The Black Bear’s lone goal came with only fifteen seconds left in the game when fourth-year forward Brianna Ricker scored off an assist from fourth-year forward Brittany Smith. The Black Bears did not have enough time left to score the equalizer. The Black Bears outshot the Flashes 13-4 but could not get past Kent State’s goaltender. 

On Friday, Sept. 13, the University of Maine field hockey team picked up their first win of the season, beating the nationally-ranked No. 22 Boston University 2-1. 

Fourth-year forward Brianna Ricker tallied the first goal of the game just three minutes into the contest off a sweet pass from third-year back Hana Davis. Boston got an equalizer before the end of the first quarter as first-year back Jodie Conolly possessed the ball at the top right of the circle before finding first-year forward Ellie McIntyre for a redirect at the goalmouth 15 minutes into the quarter. 

Ricker struck again for the Black Bears with under seven minutes left in the opening half when she forced a turnover in the midfield before creating space at the top of the circle and firing an elevated shot to the back of the net. The Black Bear’s second-year goaltender Mia Borley played very well, just letting in one goal on six shots. 

The Terriers outshot Maine 11-6 and outshot them in on goal shot 6-4. Ricker’s two goals on the day give her a total of four on the season and puts her in second place for the most goals in the America East Conference. Maine picks up their first win of the season and improves their record to 1-3 on the season. 

The Black Bears will play host to Northeastern University Friday, Sept. 20 at 3:00 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 22, they will travel to Harvard University and take on the Crimson in non-conference play.

The Bruins lost 5-4 to the first place Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, March 25. Lightning center Anthony Cirelli broke a tie with under a minute remaining in the third period, and Tampa Bay became the fourth team in NHL history to win at least 59 games in a season. For the Bruins, left-wing Brad Marchand picked up two goals while right-wing David Pastrnak and center Patrice Bergeron both picked up two assists.

On Wednesday, March 27, the Bruins beat the New York Rangers 6-3 at the TD Garden in Boston. Pastrnak had a hat trick and scored five points for the Bruins, tallying his third hat trick of the season.

On Saturday, March 30, the Bruins fell to the Florida Panthers 4-1, snapping their twelve game winning streak at home. Noel Acciari picked up his sixth goal of the season while Torey Krug picked up his 45th assist of the season. The Bruins (47-22-9), who have clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs, lead the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs by six points, who are fresh off of a 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators the same night. Boston has four games remaining in their regular season, including their next three on the road.

Hot Teams in the NHL

The Washington Capitals have regained first place in the Metropolitan Division. They won their last three games and have gone 6-3-1 in their last ten games.

The Dallas Stars have moved into the seventh place spot in the Western Conference with four games left in the season. They have won four games in a row and have gone 6-3-1 in their last ten games. They finish out the season playing the Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild.    

Wild Card Teams

The Colorado Avalanche are in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference with 85 points. They have won their last two games and have gone 7-2-1 in the last ten games. The Dallas Stars are in the first wild card spot three points ahead of the Avalanche. The Arizona Coyotes are outside looking in as they are three points behind the Avalanche. The Wild are also four points out of the wild card spot with four games left in the season.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are in the second wild card spot in the Eastern conference with 90 points. The Blue Jackets are currently three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the first spot in the wild card. The Montreal Canadiens are tied with the Blue Jackets but have played one more game than Columbus has.

Cold Teams in the NHL

The Vegas Golden Knights have clinched a Stanley Cup playoff berth but have been cold lately, losing three consecutive games. In their last ten games they have gone 5-4-1 and are tied for fifth place in the Western Conference. Vegas leads the Dallas Stars by two points with both teams having four games remaining in the season.

The Buffalo Sabers have dropped to 13th place in the Eastern Conference, cooling off quickly from a flashy beginning to the season. They have gone 1-8-1 in the last ten games and are officially eliminated from playoff contention.

The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team faced off against the Boston College Eagles in game one of the two-game weekend series on Friday, Feb. 22 at the Alfond Arena.

The Black Bears took game one of the series winning 2-1, holding off the Eagles in the final minutes.           

The first period started out with Maine putting pressure on the Eagles, taking six shots before the Eagles could even register a shot on Maine’s goal. Second-year goaltender Jeremy Swayman stopped every shot the Eagles took at him. With half of the first period expired, the Black Bears took advantage of a 4-on-4 opportunity and capitalized on it. Third-year forward Mitchell Fossier snagged the puck between faceoff circles, thanks to a deflection by third-year forward Chase Pearson. Fossier handled the puck and cut into open ice, taking off past the faceoff circle and beating Eagles’ third-year goaltender Joseph Woll by firing a slap shot over his blocker. Maine kept the 1-0 lead into the intermission in front of a roaring home crowd.

The Black Bears came out strong in the second period. Seven minutes in, Pearson stole the puck while behind the net, sending it up the boards to fourth-year defenseman Keith Muehlbauer. His shot was blocked in traffic, stopping in the high slot where second-year forward Eduards Tralmaks skated in and fired a quick shot to beat Woll’s outstretched pad, extending Maine’s lead to 2-0. The Eagles did not give up, as they outshot the Black Bears 15-6 in the second period, but Swayman held strong and stopped every shot that came his way.

Maine kept the Eagles off of the board for most of the third period before taking a tripping penalty with two minutes left on the clock. The Eagles called a timeout and pulled Woll for the extra attacker to create a 6-on-4 power play. Less than 30 seconds into the two-man advantage, Eagles’ second-year forward Logan Hutsko snuck a pass  in front of the net for second-year forward Aapeli Räsänen, who quickly beat Swayman with a one-timer inside the left post, leading to The Eagle’s first point of the night. The Eagles kept Woll on the bench in an effort to try and tie the game with six attackers, but the Black Bears held them off and beat the Eagles for the second time this year. Swayman stopped 31 of 32 shots and help the Black Bears picked up a huge Hockey East win.

On Saturday, Feb. 23, the Maine men’s ice hockey team collected their third win against the Eagles, sweeping Boston College for the season, with a final score of 2-1.

12 minutes into a relatively quiet first period the Eagles jumped on the board. First-year forward Oliver Wahlstrom took a pass at the half boards from the point by third-year forward Ben Finkelstein and cut across the rink to fire from the faceoff circle. After a strong save by Swayman, third-year forward David Cotton scooped up the deflected puck and snuck it past the Black Bears’ tender for his 18th goal of the season. The Eagles led the first period, outshooting Maine 15-2 and keeping the Black Bears on the defensive.

The Black Bears came roaring out in the second period, firing 23 shots at Woll. Swayman denied some strong attempts from the Eagles, helping the Black Bears stay in the game. With under a minute left in the second period, fourth-year forward Brendan Robbins deflected a hard shot from first-year forward Jakub Sirota and it found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

The third period was a back and forth battle between the two teams but neither could find the back of the net. Both goaltenders were stalwarts, letting nothing past them. This forced the game into an electric overtime, and with a minute left in the extra period the Black Bears found their way past Woll. Tralmaks took a puck from the corner and chipped it up the boards. Pearson collected Tralmaks’ pass and dished the puck to Fossier, who clapped the shot that went right through Woll’s five hole. Swayman rounded off his fantastic weekend with 36 saves on 37 shots. Maine picked up two crucial hockey east points from the weekend series, putting the Black Bears on the bubble and tied for fifth in the conference.

The Black Bears will make the trip down to play UMass Amherst on Saturday, March 2.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

On Friday, Feb. 8 the Providence Friars shutout the University of Maine Black Bears 1-0 after a back and forth battle. In the first period, second-year goaltender Jeremy Swayman tallied 12 saves for his squad. Maine had the first power play chance of the night but was unable to capitalize on the odd man advantage. When it was the Black Bears’ turn on the penalty kill, they allowed zero shots to the Friars ending the period all tied up 0-0.

The Friars came out strong to start the second period. Five minutes into the period fourth-year forward Bryan Lemos got the Friars on the board with his third goal in just 10 games this season after cutting across the slot and wiring a shot into the top right corner. Fourth-year forward Ryan Tait and first–year forward Matt Koopman were credited with the assists. The Friars held a 14-3 shot advantage in the second period, with momentum going into the final frame.

Fourth-year goalkeeper Hayden Hawkey began the third period with key stops on second-year forward Eduards Tralmaks and third–year forward Chase Pearson in the opening minutes to keep the Friar lead at 1-0. Second-year forward Greg Printz was whistled for interference with under five minutes to play, but the strong Providence penalty kill held strong. The Black Bears continued their third period push, out shooting the Friars by a 13-4 margin but Hawkey stood tall in the final moments as Maine pulled Swayman for the extra attacker. Swayman made 29 saves on 30 shots giving the Black Bears a chance to win. However, the Black Bears could not find the back of the net, resulting in a 1-0 loss to the Friars.

The Black Bears skated back onto the ice Saturday night looking to upset the Friars. Maine found the back of the net first after being shut out the previous night. Pearson, in front of an electric home crowd, scored his 15th of the season to put the Black Bears up 1-0. Second-year defenseman Brady Keeper snagged the pass from Pearson in the slot, then took off towards the net before feeding the puck back to Pearson for the easy wrist shot past Hawkey, just eight minutes into the game. Providence responded on the power play, as third-year defenseman Spenser Young connected with second-year forward Jason O’Neill for a pass at the outside hash marks. O’Neill fed the puck to third-year forward Brandon Duhaime, who tipped it past Swayman in the crease to tie the game.

Maine took back the lead in the final minute of the second period, on a short handed goal. Fourth-year forward Brendan Robbins stole the puck off of a Friars’ pass, and took off down the ice before poking in the puck between Hawkey’s legs for the 2-1 lead off of the five hole score. Though they were out shot 11-9, Maine headed into the intermission with a 2-1 lead over the Friars.

The third period was a back and forth but no one could put a puck home. With under one minute left, Robbins intercepted the puck at the blue line, and went streaking with third–year forward Mitchell Fossier towards the Friars’ empty net. Robbins passed to Fossier for the empty net goal to give Maine the final score of the game, ending the contest 3-1. Swayman had 30 saves on 31 Friar shots helping Maine split the series against Providence.

The Black Bears will travel to North Andover, Massachusetts to take on the Merrimack Warriors on Feb. 15 and 16 at Lawler Rink. Puck drop for both games is 7 p.m.

On Friday, Feb. 8, the Black Bears fell to the Friars 2-1 in a tight Hockey East contest. The first period started out with the Friars getting on the board in the first five minutes. The Friars capitalized on the game’s first power play opportunity to open the scoring on the afternoon. With players pressuring down low, third-year defenseman Avery Fransoo fired a shot from the point that was kicked out for a rebound, which was handled and put up for another shot by fourth-year forward Christina Putigna. Putigna’s shot was kicked back out to an open third-year forward Meghan Rickard at the side of the net for her fifth goal of the season. Providence outshot Maine 11-7 in the first period keeping their momentum going into the second period.

The Black Bears responded three minutes into the second period when, second-year forward Daria Tereshkina stepped up along the boards to keep the puck in the offensive zone, and chipped it down to third-year forward Vendula Pribylova at the half boards, where she fired a crisp pass across the slot to a wide-open first-year forward Celine Tedenby to put away her 11th goal of the year. Maine had a power play late in the seconded period but could not capitalize. The Black Bears outshot the Friars 7-5 in the frame and ended the period in a 1-1 tie.

Coming out of the intermission, the Friars broke the 1-1 tie five minutes into the period when, while on the penalty kill, Providence forced a turnover in Maine’s end. Second-year forward Maureen Murphy corralled the loose puck and sent a pass to fourth-year forward Christina Putigna, who fired a shot over Maine’s third-year goalie Carly Jackson’s shoulder and gave her squad a 2-1 lead for her second point of the afternoon. The Black Bears could not find the back of the net as the Friars played excellent team defense. Maine’s third-year goaltender Carly Jackson finished with 19 saves on 21 shots, while Providence’s fourth-year goaltender Madison Myers stopped 24 of 25 shots.

On Saturday afternoon the teams faced off again, this time resulting in a 2-2 tie. The Friars went on the penalty kill under five minutes into the contest, but Providence was able to kill it off, and ended up with the best chance of the two minutes as third-year forward Avery Fransoo streaked in on a breakaway but could not finish at the net. Near the midpoint of the period, the Friars rang a couple of shots off the post, and Maine ended up hitting a post late in the period as well but could not finish.

First-year forward Celine Tedenby, who scored for the Black Bears yesterday, made it 1-0 for the Black Bears one minute into the second. She picked up a turnover, skated into the bottom of the left circle and fired a shot over Myers’ near-side shoulder. Providence wasted little time creating a response as first-year forward Sara Hjalmarsson played it from the corner to third-year forward Neve Van Pelt. She was able to knock it in at the back post to make it 1-1 just two minutes later.

Maine had back-to-back power plays in the middle of the second period, the first of which was killed by the Friars, and the second paying off for the Black Bears off a shot from fourth-year Cailey Hutichinson to give Maine the 2-1 lead. With only two minutes left in the second period, Rickard scored her second goal of the weekend and sixth of the season to tie the game 2-2. The third period featured back-and-forth action with Maine holding a slight advantage in shots on goal, 10-8. Jackson made eight saves while Myers made 10 saves in the final period to help force overtime. Providence dominated during overtime, leading 5-2 in shots on goal. The Friars closed the game on the power play, but were unable to find a game winner. Jackson finished the game with 25 saves while Myers finished with 24 saves.

The Black Bears (14-13-4) will face Boston College in a huge Hockey East series on Thursday, Feb. 14th and Friday, Feb. 15th at The Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

The University of Maine women’s hockey team hit the road to faceoff against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats on Saturday, Feb. 2.

The Wildcats started out the game strong, finding the back of the net with their first shot on goal under two minutes into the contest. Third-year forward Carlee Turner took a wide shot that ricocheted off the boards to fellow third-year forward Meghara McManus who sent a one timer into the back of the net. With mounting pressure from both sides the period ended 1-0 after a constant back and forth battle.

The Wildcats started the period out quick again, with another quick goal, just barely under a minute into the second period. Fourth-year forward Devan Taylor scored from the crease off a rebound from a shot by McManus. The Wildcats used that goal as momentum and shut the Black Bears out again in the second period.

The third period began the same as the first two, with a quick goal to start off the action. After being shut out in the first two periods, Maine, under a minute into the period, attacked the Wildcats goal for their first score of the evening. At the tail end of a power play to open the third period, shovelling the rebound on third-year forward Vendula Pribylova’s shot from the middle slot, first-year forward Ally Johnson scooped up the loose puck and snuck it past fourth–year goalie Kyra Smith. The goal was first-year Johnson’s second of the season and her first return to the scoresheet since Oct. 12 against Sacred Heart. Eight minutes into the third period, third-year forward Taylor Wenczkowski got caught in the corner scrum, picked the puck out and skated to the center, sniping one past Black Bears’ third year goalie Carly Jackson bringing the score to 3-1.

With seven minutes left in the third period, Wenczkowski deflected a shot from in between the face off circles and sniped one bar down, bringing the score to 4-1. Maine’s second goal on the night came on a two-on-two break seconds after the Wildcats fourth goal, as second-year forward Daria Tereshkina handled a defensive zone outlet pass from third-year defensemen Brittany Kucera. Using the extra space, Tereshkina pulled out wide away from her defender to send over a pass to Pribylova. Pribylova fired a rising shot in stride over Smith for the second Black Bears goal of the afternoon. With two minutes left to play in the game, the Wildcats scored an empty net goal to seal the win and take two points from the Black Bears. Defensively, Maine kept UNH to 26 shots on goal and blocked seven in front of Jackson. Maine’s penalty kill held strong in the game, going 3 for 3 on the evening.

Women’s Hockey East Update

With three weeks left in the women’s ice hockey season, the playoff picture is starting to look more clear. Northeastern University leads the way with a record of 18-2-2 and 38 points in the Hockey East standings. The Northeastern Huskies are currently ranked third in all of women’s college hockey. With Northeastern six points ahead, the Boston College Eagles are in second place with a record of 16-7-0. Following in third, Boston University sits on the cusp with a record of 12-5-5 in the Hockey East standings.

Two teams currently battle for fourth place in Hockey East, as the Providence Friars and Merrimack Warriors are currently tied for fourth with the Friars record of 11-8-1 and a Warriors record of 10-8-3. The Friars will finish off the season with two games versus the Black Bears, two versus the top ranked Huskies, one at Boston University and one at Holy Cross. The Merrimack Warriors finish off the season with three games against the top ranked Huskies, two versus the University of Connecticut and one at UNH.

The Black Bears find themselves in eighth place, with only two points separating the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds. The Black Bears currently have a record of 7-11-3 in Hockey East. Maine will finish the season off playing two games versus the Providence Friars, two at Boston College and one versus the Vermont Catamounts.

At the bottom of the Hockey East standings, the Vermont Catamounts and the Holy Cross Crusaders could not find their groove all season. The Catamounts are currently ninth with a record of 5-14-2, collecting 12 points in 21 games. The Crusaders are currently last in Hockey East with a record of 1-20-1, with three points in 22 games. With the season coming to the end the Catamounts and Crusaders likely are looking forward to the end of the season. The Catamounts will play Holy Cross three times, the Black Bears once, and University of Connecticut twice. The Crusaders will face off against the Catamounts three times, Boston University once and the Providence Friars once as well.

On Friday, Jan. 31, the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team fell to Hockey East rival University of New Hampshire (UNH) Wildcats 3-2 after forcing overtime in front of a sold out crowd in Durham, New Hampshire.

The Wildcats stormed out of the gate in front of the home crowd, scoring the first goal of the contest off a breakaway from fourth-year forward Ara Nazarian. First-year forward Jackson Pierson drew the attention of the lone Maine defenseman and dished the puck off to an open Nazarian, who took the open opportunity to score. The Wildcats grabbed a 1-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game.

Maine wouldn’t be defeated easily, aggressively winning the following faceoff. Maine’s top line of second-year forward Eduards Tralmaks, third-year forward Chase Pearson and third-year forward Mitchell Fossier came down on the attack and fired four close range shots on Wildcats’ second-year goaltender Mike Robinson, but they could not bury the puck. After the first period, Maine outshot UNH 12-9 and the Wildcats went 0-1 on the power play.

The second period started with the Black Bears coming out strong with a couple of quick opportunities in New Hampshire’s zone, but were unable to penetrate the crease. Five minutes into the second period, Wildcats’ second-year forward Charlie Kelleher got the puck from Nazarian in the slot and sent a wrist shot to the upper glove side of the net to put the Wildcats up 2-0. After the second period, UNH tallied 14 shots on goal while Maine had seven. The Black Bears went 0-1 on the power play while the Wildcats went 0-2.

Going into the third period UNH had all the momentum and the crowd to back them up. Five minutes into the period, fourth-year forward Brendan Robbins had a breakaway for the Black Bears but was met by Robinson, sliding to the lower glove side of the net to make the one-on-one save to keep the score 2-0. Second-year forward Emil Westerlund scored Maine’s first goal of the game when he found the back of the net with eight minutes to go in the third period. Second-year defenseman Brady Keeper found the wide open Westerlund streaking in from the far sided face-off circle. First-year forward Jakub Sirota also assisted on the Westerlund goal. To match the score, Pearson scooped up the loose puck after a shot from fourth-year defenseman Sam Becker cranked it from the blue line. Maine’s captain fought his way to the front of the net to try and disrupt New Hampshire’s defense, scooping up the loose puck. Able to get his stick on the shot, Pearson tipped the puck past the Wildcats’ goaltender to send the game to overtime.

One minute into the overtime period, Nazarian fired the puck through traffic off the faceoff, and Nazarian’s shot found its way into the Maine net. Despite the late comeback, the Black Bears were defeated by the Wildcats, 3-2. The Black Bears’ outshot New Hampshire 39-34 while second-year goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 36 saves.

On Saturday, coming off of a close defeat, Maine came into the contest looking for revenge. With nine minutes to go in the first period, third-year forward Tim Doherty scored Maine’s first goal of the night when he cleaned up a rebound and took advantage of a wide open net. First-year forward Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup corralled the puck behind the Wildcats’ net, and attempted to wrap the puck around the cage, but New Hampshire’s Robinson made the stop on the initial shot.

Doherty, crashing the net, picked up the rebound and gave the Black Bears an early 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats were called for a penalty on the Maine scoring play, and the Black Bears went on the power play after the tally. Fossier, as Doherty did earlier, scooped up the loose puck off of a deflection and scored. Keeper worked the puck around to Tralmaks, who fired the puck on net. Fossier jammed home the loose puck, giving Maine their second goal of the first period.

Wildcats’ second year defenseman Benton Maass struck back for New Hampshire, wiring a shot from the blue line that found its way into the Maine net for UNH’s first goal of the evening with just four minute to go in the opening frame. With traffic in front of Swayman, the goaltender from Alaska was unable to see Maass’ shot. After winning the following faceoff, New Hampshire tied the game 2-2, when one of Maine’s defensemen fell behind their net, giving the Wildcats an odd man rush. Nazarian received a pass from fourth-year defenseman Richard Boyd as he was crashing the net from the face-off circle. Nararian buried the puck and tied the game for his squad.

The second period started out with back and forth play, as both goaltenders were on stalwarts. With two minutes left in the period the Black Bears were on a powerplay, when Fossier collected the puck in the corner and dished off a nice between the leg pass to third-year defenseman Alexis Binner, who then collected it and passed it across to Keeper. Keeper snagged the puck and fired it top shelf to put the Black Bears up 3-2 going into the second intermission. The Wildcats outshot Maine 26-19 through two periods.

Heading into the third period, Maine kept its foot on the gas, scoring three minutes into the period. After a lengthy review, Pearson’s third period goal was upheld by the referees. The captain deflected the puck off his skate and into the open net, after Tralmaks fed the puck to Fossier, who dished it off to Pearson. Maine grabbed a two goal lead early in third. With under two minutes left in the game, second-year defenseman Max Gildon put the Wildcats within one goal when he buried a wrist shot into the upper glove side after receiving a pass off the face-off from fourth-year forward Marcus Vela.

A minute later, Fossier scored an empty-netter for the Black Bears to make the final score 5-3. Swayman made 39 saves helping the Black Bears improve to 6-7-3 in Hockey East.

Maine will return to the ice when they host conference rival Providence. Game one of the series is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 8 with a 7:00 p.m puck drop.

On Friday, the University of Maine men’s hockey team fell in a close contest to the No. 2 University of Massachusetts Minutemen.

UMass was on the board just three minutes into the contest when first-year defenseman Marc Del Gaizo skated up the ice and fluttered the Minutemen’s first shot of the game past second-year tender Jeremy Swayman from just inside the Maine blue line. Second-year defenseman Cale Makar and third-year forward Niko Hildenbrand earned the assists on the play. The rest of the period was a back and forth between the two teams, with the score staying the same at 1-0 UMass going into the intermission.

The Minutemen started the second period strong. Capitalizing on an opportunity with a one man advantage six minutes into the second, fourth-year forward Jacob Pritchard expanded the Minutemen’s lead to two with his 11th tally of the season. Receiving the puck from first-year defenseman Ty Farmer and Marc Del Gaizo at the points, Pritchard was at the post to tap the feed from Farmer home.

First-year forward Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup scored his fifth goal of the season to get the Black Bears on the board with five minutes left in the second period. Third-year forward Tim Doherty whipped the original shot from the corner before fourth-year forward Brendan Robbins held on to the puck in a battle in the slot before whipping it on goal. Doherty and Schmidt-Svejstrup crashed the net, with the first-year converting on the play.

The Minutemen came skating back onto the ice in the third period looking to expand their lead. Four minutes into the period, first-year forward Anthony Del Gaizo handled a chip pass and took the puck through center before dishing off to a clustered second-year forwards Mario Ferraro and Mitchell Chaffee in the zone. Ferraro took the puck in deep while Anthony Del Gaizo sprinted to the slot where he put in the loose puck. The Black Bears did not back down; with an extra attacker in the final minute of play, third-year forward Patrick Shea won the faceoff and dished the puck back to second-year defenseman Alexis Binner at the top of the faceoff circle. Binner sent a long shot across the slot hitting UMass first-year goaltender Filip Lindberg before popping back out to the top of the paint, where second-year forward Emil Westerlund fired in the rebound to bring the game within one with just under a minute left in regulation. Makar handled a rolling puck in the defensive zone and fired it the length of the ice for an empty net goal to close out the contest with a 4-2 Minutemen win.

Fresh off of a grueling contest, both teams came out firing Saturday night, as the Minutemen outshot the Black Bears 18-17 in the first period with both goaltenders making huge saves for their teams. Maine found the back of the net first, seven minutes into the first period. Following two faceoffs, Shea won the puck and sent it back to fifth-year forward Canon Pieper who was riding the blue line. Pieper fired off an initial slap shot that was deflected by Minutemen second-year goaltender Matt Murray. Black Bears’ Westerlund took off and snagged the rebound, before burying it from the slot to put Maine on the board.

The Minutemen leveled the score with under five minutes left in the first, as third-year defenseman Jake McLaughlin fired the puck from his own zone to a waiting Pritchard, who cut across the slot before passing the puck over to second-year forward John Leonard. Leonard slipped the puck past Swayman off of a wrist shot.

The second period started out with Maine dominating out of the gate. Six minutes into the period Minutemen second-year forward Jake Gaudet got a major penalty for contact to the head giving Maine a five minute powerplay. The Black Bears quickly capitalized, with Binner firing in a slapshot off of an assist from second-year defenseman Brady Keeper and third-year forward Mitchell Fossier under 10 seconds into the powerplay. Even down a man, the Minutemen tightened up their defense, preventing the Black Bears from scoring for another four minutes. Finding the back of the net just a minute before the conclusion of the powerplay, second-year forward Eduards Tralmaks received a pass from first-year forward Jakub Sirota and fired it through traffic to give Maine a 3-1 lead.

13 minutes into the period, Minutemen second-year forward Oliver Chau accrued a two minute penalty for slashing, giving the Black Bears another man advantage that they would capitalize on. Keeper dished the puck off to Fossier, who sent it back to Keeper in the slot which he fired over Murray’s blocker, making the Black Bears lead 4-1. Neither team was able to muster a strong enough offensive effort, as both defenses locked down their back ends for the remainder of the period.

Coming out of the second intermission, the Minutemen returned with a vengeance. UMass outshot the Black Bears 19-3, with Pritchard and Chaffee each finding the back of the net over the course of the period. The strong period wasn’t enough to bring the Minutemen back, and the Black Bears won the contest by a final score of 4-3. Swayman had a career high of 53 saves, helping Maine upset the Minutemen.

The Black Bears next contest will be on the road against rival University of New Hampshire Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1.