The University of Maine men’s hockey team was able to pick up four of a possible six Hockey East points this weekend on a Massachusetts road trip to Boston College and UMass-Lowell.
On Friday night at Kelly Rink at Chestnut Hill- Maine used three different goal scorers and got a strong 31 save performance from Victor Ostman to beat Boston College 3-1. Lynden Breen remained red hot and got the scoring started at 5:18 of the first period to make it 1-0. The Black Bears then got the eventual game winner at the 14:00 mark off the stick of Didrik Henbrandt. Boston College kept the pressure up, and would finally break onto the scoreboard with 3:53 remaining in the game when Trevor Kuntar tallied. The guests wrapped up the victory though just over two minutes later when Donovan Villeneuve-Houle scored unassisted into an empty net. Villeneuve-Houle added an assist in the win, while Ostman, Nolan Renwick, and Thomas Freel also had a helper each. Mitch Benson made 18 saves in the loss for Boston College, as they fell to 9-12-6 and 5-8-5 in Hockey East.
On Sunday afternoon at the Tsongas Center in Lowell- Maine and #17 UMass-Lowell exchanged a first period goal each, and then went the remaining 53:25 of regulation and five minutes of overtime without any scoring as the game officially ended in a 1-1 tie. The Riverhawks picked up the extra Hockey East point by winning a shootout 2-0. Owen Cole scored for the hosts at 3:27 of that first period, but it was none other than Breen 3:08 later who evened it for the Black Bears poking home a loose puck in front of the net. Both teams had some good chances from there on out, but the goaltenders came up huge. Jon McDonald had a wraparound chance in the last couple seconds of regulation for UMass-Lowell, but Ostman made a sprawling save at the left post and somehow kept it out before it crossed the goal line. The play was reviewed, but was ruled no goal. The Riverhawks had all three of their powerplays in the third period alone. Maine had a two on none breakout in the final seconds of overtime, but Henry Welsch turned away a one-timer by atVilleneuve-Houle. Freel had the lone assist on the day for the Black Bears, while Ostman had 23 saves. The guests also went 0-3 on the powerplay. Breen has now scored at least one goal in seven straight games, and is on a nine game point streak with nine goals and four assists dating back to the January 14 home win over UMass-Lowell. Welsch made 29 saves for the Riverhawks, as their record goes to 15-10-3, 9-6-3 in Hockey East.
Maine sees their record go to 13-13-3, and 7-9-2 in conference play as they have played some better hockey since Thanksgiving. The Black Bears are 11-5-2 in that span. Maine heads out on the road again this coming weekend for a rivalry series at the Whittemore Center against UNH on Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Recaps/Photo by Chris Lessner
