The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team squandered a pair of one goal leads Saturday night, and Boston University got a goal from Matthew Quercia late in the third period to send the game to overtime as the two teams would end up skating to a 2-2 tie in Hockey East action at the Alfond Arena in Orono.
Maine (5-2-1, 2-1-1 Hockey East) took the lead and scored the only goal of the opening period when Tim Doherty scored at 2:43 to make it 1-0. It was the fifth of the season for Doherty. Trevor Zegras tied it for the guests at 11:52 of the second period to send the game to the third period with a 1-1 score. The Black Bears regained their lead when Adrien Bisson scored his first of the season at 1:40 of the third. The visiting Terriers pressured but Maine goalie Jeremy Swayman stood tall to keep the one goal lead intacted until late in the period. With 2:26 left Boston University pulled goaltender Sam Tucker for an extra attacker. Quercia sent the game to the extra session with the extra attacker goal at 17:42. BU (2-2-3, 1-1-2) got a powerplay in overtime on a two minute tripping minor to Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup but couldn’t convert. The best chance came from Quercia off a faceoff win at the start of the powerplay when he beat Swayman with a shot that rang off the post.
Swayman made 35 saves to help Maine stay unbeaten in three straight games and get three of a possible four points in Hockey East on the weekend. Mitch Fossier, Jack Quinlivan, Patrick Shea, and Veli-Matti Tiuraniemi all had an assist each. Tucker made 23 saves for Boston University. The Black Bears were 0-3 on the powerplay, while the Terriers went 0-6.
Maine will try to keep their good early season start going when they travel to Tsongas Arena next Friday and Saturday night to continue Hockey East play against UMass-Lowell.
