ORONO- Bradly Nadeau matched his brother Josh on Sunday evening, by notching a hat trick in leading #11 Maine to a 7-3 men’s Hockey East win over the University of Connecticut at the Alfond Arena. It was the first career hat trick for Bradly who now has a team-leading 10 goals on the season. Josh had his first career trick on Friday in a 5-2 win over UNH.
UConn (7-9-1, 4-6-0 Hockey East) had their only lead of the evening by scoring the only goal of the first period. Jake Percival buried a rebound past Victor Ostman in front as the Huskies led 1-0. Lynden Breen got Maine even at 1:07 of the second on a 4 on 4 situation, taking a pass from Bradly Nadeau and dangling left to right before firing a hard wristshot into the net from the high slot. The Black Bears took the lead just 1:28 later, when Nolan Renwick broke in down the left wing and tried to center a pass into the slot but the pass was misdirected off a UConn stick that eluded netminder Ethan Haider. The Huskies tied it back up on the powerplay at 5:03 on a tally by Nick Capone after a scramble in front. Brandon Holt would put the hosts ahead for good at 13:54, firing a shot from the left point through traffic that found its way into the net for a 3-2 advantage. It was the first goal of the season for Holt, with a good screen provided by Thomas Freel. UConn went on the powerplay late in the stanza looking for the equalizer, but Ostman came up with some big saves to maintain the lead including a stop with his right pad on a point blank chance. Just a few seconds later after a Huskies breakaway was stopped, the guests turned the puck over at the blue line in the attacking zone and Liam Lesakowski found the Nadeau brothers behind the defense for a 2 on 0 breakout. Josh Nadeau went down the middle of the slot, and then dropped it to Bradly Nadeau who one-timed it into the cage from the left faceoff circle at 19:05 for a shorthanded marker and the eventual game winner to make it 4-2.
After Percival scored his second of the night for UConn early in the third period to cut it to 4-3, Maine would cap off their six point Hockey East weekend by scoring the final three goals. Bradly Nadeau scored the next two, that were both helped by his brother Josh. Bradly scored at 6:15 from Josh and Luke Antonacci, and then his third of the contest at 10:40 with Holt also picking up a secondary assist. Brandon Chabrier finished the scoring for the only powerplay tally for the Black Bears at 17:09. It also ended a five game losing streak for Maine against UConn.
Bradly Nadeau led the way in the win with three goals and one assist. Chabrier also had a four point night with a goal and three assists. Josh Nadeau had three assists, while Holt and Renwick each had a goal and an assist. Ostman had 38 saves in net. Maine was just 1-7 on the powerplay, after scoring three with the extra man on Friday night. Haider stopped 31 shots in the loss for UConn, and Percival had two of their three goals. The Huskies went 1-6 on the powerplay. The Black Bears improve to 8-3-1 overall and 5-2-1 in Hockey East, currently in second place with 16 points. Maine will play their next six games in non-conference, beginning with a trip to New York on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when they take on Union College.
Recap/photos/video by Chris Lessner
