ORONO- Ross Mitton scored just 17 seconds into the game Saturday night to set the tone, while Thomas Freel and Harrison Scott added two goals a piece as #7 Maine blanked Merrimack College for a second straight night this time 6-0 to complete the men’s Hockey East sweep at Alfond Arena. For the first time in exactly 22 years (November 1st and November 2nd, 2002) the Black Bears record back to back home shutouts in a series.
On what was the eventual game winner 17 seconds in, Taylor Makar along the left wing boards got it to Brandon Holt in the high slot. Holt put one towards the net that went wide, but came right to Mitton off the boards from behind the goal. Mitton quickly scooped it up to the left of Merrimack goalie Nils Wallstrom and fired one that went in between the pads of the sophomore to make it 1-0 Maine. The Black Bears extended it to 2-0 late in the first when Makar found a loose puck on the powerplay in the low slot, turned and snapped off a shot that was stopped by the pad of Wallstrom but the rebound kicked right to the stick of Freel who buried it at 19:33.
Maine pulled away in the second period by putting the final four goals of the night on the board in a span of 13:24. Scott and Charlie Russell started that barrage scoring 15 seconds apart at 3:37 and 3:52 respectively. Freel continued his success on the powerplay scoring at 6:55 with the extra man for his sixth tally of the season (all on the powerplay). Scott capped off the huge stanza by scoring his second of the period on the powerplay at 17:01.
Albin Boija made 15 saves in goal over the first two periods in the win for Maine. Freshman netminder Patriks Berzins played in relief in the third and made four saves to help pick up back to back shutouts, outscoring Merrimack 11-0 on the weekend. The Black Bears went 3-6 on the powerplay (5-9 in the two games), and outshot the Warriors 77-42 (40-19 on goal). Five players had multiple points in the victory, led by Scott with two goals and two assists. Freel had two goals and one assist, Russell one goal and two assists, while Makar and Holt chipped in two assists each. Wallstrom made 22 saves in 40 minutes played in the loss for Merrimack, while freshman Ryan Keyes stopped all 12 shots he faced in the third period. MC drops to 1-5-1, 0-3-1 in Hockey East. Maine (6-0-1, 3-0-1) will face a very stiff test next weekend in a Hockey East road showdown at Boston College (5-1), who is currently ranked #2 in the country. Game 1 of that series is on Friday at 7 p.m., while Game 2 will be a rare Sunday afternoon contest at 1. The two games are the conference openers for the Eagles. The Black Bears won 4-2 and tied 2-2 last season with BC in Orono.
All photos courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco
