Patrick Shea (27) and Daniel Perez (29) look to make a play on a loose puck for the University of Maine during the first period of their game vs RPI on Saturday, October 15, 2016. Photo by Chris Lessner.
ORONO, Maine- Freshman forward Mitchell Fossier scored the third period game winner, his fourth collegiate goal in two games, and Rob McGovern made 39 saves to lead the University of Maine Mens Ice Hockey team to a 4-2 come from behind win over RPI before 3,909 fans at the Alfond Arena Saturday night, sweeping the two game series from the visiting Engineers.
RPI struck first though as Riley Bourbonnais collected a Maine turnover and roofed a snapshot past a stunned McGovern at 5:35 of the opening period to make it 1-0. Maine (2-0-0) tied the game with 4:31 left in the first, when Cam Brown made a pretty pass from behind the net to Blaine Byron who was skating to the left of RPI goalie Chase Perry, and was able to get it past him to knot the game 1-1 at the end of 20 minutes.
Drew Melanson scored the second shorthanded goal of the night for RPI at 5:23 of period two, when he intercepted a Maine pass at their own blue line and broke in on McGovern and deeked him left to right to put the Engineers back in front 2-1. McGovern kept the Bears in the game in the second period as RPI applied more pressure. McGovern stoned Viktor Liljegren in front of the net on a point blank chance, and stopped another two on one break 40 seconds later to keep it 2-1 after two.
At 5:50 of the third period Patrick Shea found an open Daniel Perez in front of the RPI net, and Perez buried it past Perry to tie the game 2-2.
Fossier was the hero again on this night. After his hat trick in his first collegiate game Friday night, the freshman found himself in perfect position to net the game winner Saturday. As Nolan Vesey was pressuring the RPI defenseman in their own zone, the puck popped in the air in front of the RPI goalie and found the stick of Fossier who batted it past Perry to give Maine their first lead at 3-2 with 10:29 left. “He’s a heck of a hockey player whether he scores or not. He makes good plays, he is the right position defensively. He has the sense to get open. He is just a real smart player. He is what we we call a 200 foot hockey player”, said Maine Coach Red Gendron after the game. Chase Pearson added an empty net goal with eight seconds left to clinch the sweep for the Black Bears.
The shots in the game ended up even at 41 a piece with McGovern stopped 39 RPI shots to earn the win. Perry stopped 37 shots in the loss as the Engineers dropped to 0-2-0. RPI was 0 for 3 on the powerplay while Maine was 0 for 4 with two shorthanded goals allowed.
RPI coach Seth Appert after the game, “It was a great college hockey game, obviously we didn’t come up on the right side of it, some things we gotta keep cleaning up in our team play especially in the third period. You gotta try to finish them too. Credit to McGovern, very good, but we had some open nets on some rebounds both in the first and in the second. We probably should of been up 3-1 or 4-1 headed into the third period. But you keep it 2-1, and then it’s a different story. Good hockey game and credit to Maine for finding a way to win that in the third”.
Gendron when asked about the comeback in the third period added, “Simply put, we started to play as hard as we needed to. We were losing battles, not making plays that were obviously there. We weren’t shooting when we had opportunities and the play called for a shot. We werent make the plays on the powerplay according to what they do. So in essence, we weren’t following the script on what it took to be successful. The other team kicked up their intensity a little bit, and ours wasn’t as high as it was last night through two periods. And then we picked it up”.
Maine continues their four game home stand to start the season by hosting the #2 team in the county Quinnipiac next Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m.). RPI continues on the road with a single game at North Dakota next Saturday at 7 p.m.
RPI 1 1 0- 2
UME 1 0 3- 4
Shots on goal- RPI 41, Maine 41
Win- McGovern (2-0-0) Loss- Perry (0-2-0)
Time of the game- 2:15
