ORONO- It what was a very exciting finish to a Top 10 weekend battle. Brandon Holt tied it for Maine with 28 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime, and David Breazeale scored with 36 seconds left in the extra session on Saturday night as the #9 Black Bears outlasted #7 Quinnipiac 6-5 to sweep the two-game men’s hockey non-conference series at Alfond Arena.
Quinnipiac (1-2) had a chance to grab their first lead of the series with an early powerplay chance 3:39 into the first period. Maine forward Taylor Makar though had other ideas. Makar won a race for a puck near center ice, checked Cooper Moore into the boards at the blue line and skated into the right faceoff circle for a wristshot that beat Bobcats goalie Matej Marinov stick side just inside the far post for a shorthanded unassisted goal at 5:02. The UMass transfer now has three goals and three assists over the first three games, after scoring just nine points (four goals, five assists) in 36 games with the Minutemen last season.
The Black Bears made it 2-0 when Owen Fowler got to a rebound in the low slot off a one-timer by Nolan Renwick that had been stopped by Marinov. It was the first goal of the season by Fowler.
Quinnipiac cut it to 2-1 when Aaron Schwartz put in a powerplay tally at 11:55, before Maine regained their two goal advantage less than two minutes later when Colgate transfer Ross Mitton scored his first Black Bear goal off assists by Harrison Scott and Makar. The lead went to 4-1 just 55 seconds into the second period on the powerplay. Charlie Russell tried to set up Scott for a one-timer on the doorstep, but Scott fanned on it and Thomas Freel was there to scoop it up and put it into the net.
The Bobcats weren’t going down without a fight, and would score the next four goals unanswered to finally get their first lead of the weekend. Second period markers by Tyler Borgula at 7:37, Jack Ricketts at 12:58, and Travis Treloar on the powerplay at 15:51 tied it 4-4 after 40 minutes.
Chris Pelosi made is 5-4 Quinnipiac at the 6:39 mark of the third period. Each team had two powerplay opportunities over the next 10:40, but couldn’t convert on those chances as it remained 5-4 Bobcats. Breazeale took a tripping penalty with just 1:56 left to play in regulation, and at that point it looked like QU may be able to hang on for the split. But that was evened up to a 4 on 4 situation after Davis Pennington was whistled for holding 32 seconds later. Maine would pull goaltender Albin Boija for an extra attacker, and with just 28.1 seconds left Holt fired a shot through traffic from just inside the blue line that found twine to send the game to overtime sending the Alfond into a frenzy.
They would be sent into a frenzy again in the extra session when Breazeale would receive a pass from Scott just inside the blue line and would get into position for a shot in the high slot. Breazeale would get his first attempt blocked, but the puck came right back to his stick as he cut from right to left and fired a hard wristshot that beat Marinov up high over his right arm stick side with 36. 4 seconds remaining to complete the two game sweep.
Maine (3-0), who entered the series at #9 in the country, should definitely see a rise in their national ranking come Monday with the two wins over #7 Quinnipiac. Boija made 22 saves in the victory. Makar and Holt each had one goal and one assist, while Scott assisted on four of the six Black Bear goals on the night including the winner by Breazeale. Russell, Josh Nadeau, and Frank Djurasevic also added one assist a piece. They would go 1-5 on the powerplay. Nadeau is the only forward on the top line with any points in three games (two assists), as Sully Scholle and Lynden Breen have been held off the scoresheet completely so far. Borgula and Schwartz had one goal and one assist in the defeat for Quinnipiac. Marinov made 35 stops in net. The Bobcats went 2-6 with their extra man chances. Maine heads out on road for the first time next week when they travel to Boston to take on Northeastern to open Hockey East play on Friday and Saturday. Game time for each night is 7 p.m.
All videos are courtesy of Maine Ice Hockey on X, and photos are courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco
Maine defenseman David Breazeale winds up for the game winning shot in overtime on Saturday, October 19 as the #9 Black Bears completed a weekend sweep 6-5 over #7 Quinnipiac at Alfond Arena
