Sully Scholle scored a game-tying third period goal on Saturday night, as the #6 Maine Black Bears fought back from a 2-0 second period deficit to salvage a 2-2 men’s Hockey East tie with Northeastern at Matthews Arena in Boston. Maine won the shootout 2-0, taking five out of a possible six league points on the weekend in what was a memorable last trip into the 114-year old rink that will be torn down after this season.
Northeastern as expected came out with even more intensity after a 4-1 loss to Maine on Friday night. The Huskies jumped on the board for their first lead of the series 2:04 into the opening period. Vinny Borgesi took a hard wristshot from the right circle on goaltender Albin Boija that Boija stopped with his right skate, but Nick Rheaume was right there in the low slot to slam it into the net.
NU extended their advantage to 2-0 when Cam Lund got loose for a breakaway, scoring his second goal of the weekend at 1:40 of the second. 9:37 into the stanza, Maine had a golden opportunity to jump back in the game when Ben Poitras was whistled for a five minute major for facemasking. The Black Bears did take advantage to get one on the scoreboard during the five minute powerplay. Harrison Scott kept a puck in at the attacking blue line, passing it to a wide open Brandon Holt who skated into the high slot and fired a wrister past Huskies netminder Cameron Whitehead at 12:16.
The play was back and forth and up and down the ice all night long, with both teams having several chances to put up more goals but both netminders stood tall. Northeastern hit the post behind Boija three or four times on the evening. The Maine forecheck paid dividends to find the equalizer in the third period, and Scholle was the beneficiary of that play. Black Bears freshman Oskar Komarov stripped a puck off the stick of a Husky deep in the NU defensive zone, and then found Scholle who strolled into the middle of the slot and beat Whitehead with a wristshot glove side inside the left post at 9:14. It was the first goal of the season for Scholle that would eventually send the game to overtime. There was no scoring in the five-minute extra session, although the hosts had the best chance when Jack Williams set up Dylan Hryckowian for a wide open shot in the high slot just over a minute in but Boija came way outside his crease to cut down the angle and made the save. The game officially went down in the books as a tie, but Maine gained the additional Hockey East point by winning the shootout (2-0) on tallies by Charlie Russell and Scholle.
Boija made 31 saves for Maine, who sees their record go to 4-0-1 and 1-0-1 in Hockey East. Komarov, Harrison Scott, and Charlie Russell each picked up an assist. The Black Bears went 1-5 on the powerplay. Whitehead stopped 34 shots for Northeastern, who is now on a four game winless streak going to 1-3-1 and 0-1-1 in conference play. Borgesi, Williams, Hryckowian, and Griffin Erdman had one assist each. The Huskies went 0-4 on their extra man opportunities (now 0 for 15 on the powerplay for the season). Maine returns home for more Hockey East action as they host Merrimack for a two game series at Alfond Arena next Friday and Saturday. Faceoff time for each night is 7:30 p.m.
Maine and Northeastern face-off at center ice during their men’s Hockey East game in Boston on Friday, October 25. The Black Bears tied the Huskies 2-2 on Saturday, winning a shootout to take five out of a possible six league points on the weekend. Photo by Chris Lessner
