Rob McGovern watches as a shot rings off the post in a game January 21st against Boston University at Alfond Arena. McGovern would be in net again Friday night as Maine hosted UMass. Photo by Anthony Delmonaco.
Cedric Lacroix, Nolan Vesey, and Patrick Shea all had a goal and an assist Friday night, to lead the Maine Black Bear hockey team to a 4-1 win over UMass in Hockey East action at Alfond Arena before a crowd of 3,986.
Maine improved to 9-13-3 overall and 3-9-1 in conference play. The nine wins amasses the total of eight wins that the Bears had in all of the 2015-16 season.
Daniel Perez also added a goal as Maine scored two powerplay goals on three chances, while holding UMass to 0-6 with the man advantage.
Maine was staked to a 2-0 lead after one period on goals from Vesey and Perez. The score stayed that way until William Lagesson scored for UMass 52 seconds into the third to make it 2-1. The Black Bears put the game away though when Lacroix and Shea scored later in third, 6:46 apart to finish off the scoring.
McGovern earned the win in net for Maine making 28 saves on 29 Minutemen shots. Ryan Wischow suffered the loss for UMass making 27 saves on 31 Black Bear shots. UMass falls to 5-18-2, 2-10-1 in Hockey East losing their sixth straight game.
The same two teams will faceoff in the series finale Saturday night at Alfond Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
