The University of Maine Black Bears owned the shots on goal on Friday night 52-13, but could only manage a 1-1 tie with Union College in men’s college hockey non-conference action at the Alfond Arena in Orono.
Adrien Bisson gave Maine a 1-0 lead at 18:15 of the first period. Lynden Breen skated over the Union blue line and made a pass from right to left to Bisson who fired a wrist shot past Dutchmen goalie Connor Murphy from the very top of the left faceoff circle. The Black Bears had a 19-3 shots on goal advantage in the opening 20 minutes. That one goal lead held until the third period, and that is when Collin Graf evened the score for Union College at 4:41. Maine outshot the Dutchmen 5-0 in the extra session and had two great chances that included a breakaway by Adam Dawe with two minutes left, and then another 2 on 1 breakout that was stopped by Murphy and the game ended in a tie.
Matthew Thiessen only had to make 12 saves in net for Maine. The Black Bears record goes to 1-11-4 on the season. Breen and Dawson Bruneski had assists on the Bisson goal. Murphy, the transfer from Northeastern, made 51 saves for Union College who are now 5-8-3. Ryan Sidorski and Tyler Watkins had assists on the tying goal by Graf. The teams will finish off the two game series on Saturday evening at 5 p.m.
