Jakub Sirota scored with 1:28 left in the third period Monday afternoon, as the Maine men’s ice hockey team skated to a 4-4 tie with rival UNH at Alfond Arena in a rare holiday matinee Hockey East matchup before a crowd of 3,702.
Maine (8-11-3, 4-5-3 Hockey East) started quickly in the first period taking a 2-0 lead. Mitchell Fossier got it started when he skated down the right wing side, and then between the top of the dots, and sent a centering pass to Brendan Robbins who was cutting to the net and deflected the pass past UNH netminder Mike Robinson at 9:57 to make it 1-0. The Bears extended that lead 6:37 later when Chase Pearson tracked down a bouncing puck after a dump in from the neutral zone, and shoveled one on a backhander from the right hand side past Robinson.
Liam Blackburn notched a powerplay goal for the only scoring of the second period at 9:05 to cut the lead to 2-1. It was a wild back and forth third period, as the Wildcats tied it just 2:33 in when Chris Miller found the back of the net. Robbins second of the day just 2:49 later restored a 3-2 Maine advantage. Jackson Pierson tied it once again at the 12:00 mark for UNH, and then the Wildcats took advantage of a poor turnover by the Bears in their own zone and Angus Crookshank gave the vistitors their only lead of the day at 17:14. Sirotas first collegiate goal came shortly after goalie Jeremy Swayman was pulled for an extra attacker, beating Robinson on a shot from about one stride inside the blue line to send the game to overtime. UNH did have a powerplay in overtime and had one grade A chance, while Maine also had shot on a Pearson move past a defender just 25 seconds into the extra session, but the game ended in a tie.
UNH is now 6-1-2 in their last nine games, and sees their record go to 8-8-7, 4-5-4 HE. Swayman made 22 saves for Maine, while Robinson finished with 30 for UNH. The Bears were 0-3 on the powerplay, while the Wildcats went 1-4. Maine will host one of the top teams in the country this weekend in UMass who comes into the Alfond with a record of 18-4 and 10-2 in Hockey East. Faceoff is 7:30 Friday and Saturday at 7 pm.
