AJ Drobot scored a late second period goal that proved to be the game winner Saturday night, as the Maine Black Bears finished off a two game weekend sweep of Merrimack College with a 3-2 men’s Hockey East win at Alfond Arena in Orono.
After a good defensive start for both teams, Cam Spicer opened up the scoring with a goal at 15:41 of the first period to make it 1-0 Maine. Merrimack (6-18-3, 4-10-3 Hockey East) tied it 1-1 when Mac Welsher scored on the powerplay at 1:08 of the second. Mitchell Fossier put the Black Bears back ahead on assists from Tim Doherty and JD Greenway at 10:34 making it 2-1. Drobot on a helper from Tralmaks would then make it 3-1 at 16:39. The undisciplined Maine team though took a penalty near the end of the period when Greenway was called for roughing at the 20 minute mark. The Warriors took advantage when Zach Uens scored 38 seconds into the third to make it a one goal game again. The Black Bears would hold on however, and goalie Jeremy Swayman had to make several Grade A saves in helping Maine win their fourth straight game.
Swayman had 33 saves in the win. Jere Huhtamaa made 25 in the loss for Merrimack College. Drobot had a goal and an assist, and Tralmaks had two assists for the only multiple point scorers on the night. The Black Bears gave MC seven more powerplays after seven on Friday night. The Warriors went 2-7, while Maine was 0-1. The win improves the Black Bears overall record to 14-9-4, 8-7-2 in Hockey East play. The team climbs over the .500 mark in league action for the first time since mid-November. They will look to extend their win streak to five when they host Northeastern for a single game next Friday night.
Maine goalie Jeremy Swayman, shown here making a save last weekend at Boston College, had 33 stops Saturday night to lead the Black Bears to a 3-2 win over Merrimack and a sweep of the weekend series. Photo by Anthony DelMonaco
