Maines Chase Pearson tries to win a second period faceoff in Orono on Friday, November 23, 2018 against Quinnipiac. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge).
ORONO, Me- Odeen Tufto had a hat trick Friday night and Andrew Shortridge made 33 saves, as the #10 Quinnipiac Bobcats rolled over the Maine Black Bears 7-2 in non-conference men’s college hockey action at Alfond Arena.
Tufto starting the scoring early, burying a rebound off a deflected pass by Chase Priskie that was tipped by Maine goalie Jeremy Swayman, but Tufto was able to slip the puck over his pad to make it 1-0 just 30 seconds in. QU (10-2-0) made it 2-0 in the first on another Tufto marker, and the visitors scored the first three goals of the game. Maine (4-6-1) converted a two on one when Mitch Fossier slipped one over to Chase Pearson, who one timed the pass into the net at 13:08 of the second to cut it to 3-1. Tufto finished off his hat trick with less than seven seconds left in the middle period to make it 4-1 on the powerplay. QU went on to add three more in the third, and Maine got one back when Ryan Smith deflected in a Cam Spicer shot with just five minutes left.
Swayman ended up with 22 saves in the loss. Tufto added two assists for a five point night, while Brandon Fortunato and Priskie each added two assists for the Bobcats. Smith had a goal and an assist for the Bears. QU was 1-4 on the powerplay, while Maine was 0-5. The two teams finish off the two game series on Saturday night at 7:30 pm.
