ORONO- Sophomore forward Charlie Russell scored his first goal of the season that turned out to be the game winner in the opening period on Friday night, as #9 Maine edged #7 Quinnipiac 2-1 in a non-conference men’s college hockey battle of Top 10 teams at a sold-out Alfond Arena.
Maine (2-0) took four penalties in the first period, but luckily was able to keep Quinnipiac off the scoreboard while also putting up two goals of their own. Nolan Renwick kept up his hot start to the season to open the scoring. Taylor Makar from his own zone passed it up to Renwick who was streaking through center ice. Renwick skated into the offensive zone 2 on 1 with Ross Mitton, and fired a wristshot from the left faceoff circle past Bobcats goaltender Dylan Silverstein glove side inside the far post at 6:42 for a 1-0 lead. Russell picked up his game winner with 45 seconds left in the stanza. Harrison Scott started the play by throwing a puck out in front that was stopped by the pad of Silverstein, but Russell pounced on the rebound and deposited it into the cage.
Quinnipiac (1-1) had a great chance to cut the deficit in half about midway through the second period, when a Maine turnover at their own blue line led to a 2 on 0 break-in for the Bobcats. Black Bears goalie Albin Boija though came up with a big pad save on a one-timer by Tyler Borgula to keep it a two goal game. Both teams combined to go 0 for their first 8 on the powerplay, but Borgula did finally break through on the extra man for the visiting Bobcats late in the frame on assists from Davis Pennington and Chris Pelosi at 18:40. Maine tightened up defensively in the third period to hold on for the win, only allowing five Quinnipiac shots on net in the final 20 minutes. The best chance to tie it for the visitors came with 2:42 remaining when the Black Bears went shorthanded as Frank Djurasevic was called for tripping. The Bobcats decided to pull Silverstein to create a 6 on 4 advantage, but they never did get a good look on Boija over that last 2:42 of action.
Boija made 19 saves in the win for Maine. Makar, Scott, and Brandon Holt picked up one assist each. The Black Bears went 0-5 on the powerplay. Renwick now has three goals in two games, after scoring just twice last season in 25 contests played. Silverstein made 27 saves in the Quinnipiac loss. The Bobcats lone goal was a powerplay marker, going 1-6 on the evening. The two game series will wrap up on Saturday night with face-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
All photos below are courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco
Taylor Makar and Ross Mitton celebrate with Nolan Renwick, after a first period goal by Renwick in a 2-1 men’s hockey win for #9 Maine over #7 Quinnipiac in Orono on Friday night
Nolan Renwick goal
Harrison Scott throws a puck out in front of the net, that #11 Charlie Russell would get to for a Maine goal as he celebrates below after finding twine
