Josh Nadeau scored a game winning goal early in the third period on Sunday afternoon, as #5 Maine men’s hockey pulled away from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) 6-2 to complete the non-conference weekend road sweep at Houston Field House in Troy, New York.
It was a pretty evenly matched first 15 minutes in the opening period between the two teams, after Maine had dominated Saturday’s game outshooting RPI 50-16 in a 6-0 victory. The Black Bears though were able to take advantage of two Engineer penalties 18 seconds apart at 15:35 and 15:53 for a 5 on 3 powerplay for 1:42. Harrison Scott on that 5 on 3 scored his eighth goal of the season to make it 1-0 at 16:02, and then Ross Mitton on the continuation of the powerplay (5 on 4) took a pass by Sully Scholle from the left wing and snapped home a wristshot from the high slot 19 seconds later to double the lead. Jakob Lee would score the first RPI goal of the weekend at 18:10 to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Maine goalie Albin Boija made several huge saves during the second period with his team up 2-1, before RPI got a lucky bounce to tie it up that was very unlucky for the Black Bears. A shot off the back boards behind the net by Nathan Sullivan popped up and carommed back towards the goal off the back of Boija, as the sophomore had no idea where the puck was until it was in his cage to make it 2-2 at 17:08. Just as they did the day before though, Maine made the last 20 minutes their best period to sweep the series. The game winner came at 1:31 on an assist from Taylor Makar, as the senior forward made a perfect pass from the corner to Nadeau in front of the net for a one-timer that found the twine. Maine continued to add on after that, also tightening their defense and not allowing RPI anymore chances. Scott got his second goal of the afternoon at 9:32, while Makar at 14:40 and Owen Fowler at 19:32 would finish the scoring. The Black Bears scored four third period goals for a second straight day, with all four of the markers on Sunday coming even strength after three of the four being powerplay tallies in the final stanza in the win on Saturday afternoon. They also had 50 shots on goal for a second straight contest as they improved their record to 10-2-2.
Scott had two goals in the win, while Mitton and Makar had one goal and one assist each. It was the first goal for Makar since October 25th in a 4-1 win at Northeastern, and the first for Mitton in a month (November 1st vs Merrimack). Scholle and Jack Dalton also had multiple points with two assists a piece. Boija made 26 saves, as Maine ended up with a 50-28 shots on goal advantage. The Black Bears went 2-4 on the powerplay. Jackson Watson made 44 stops in the loss for RPI, who had their overall record drop to 5-6-1. The Engineers only had one powerplay chance and went 0-1. Maine, who is now 4-0-1 in their last five games, returns home to Orono to host Northeast Conference opponent Stonehill College in a pair of non-conference matinees next Saturday and Sunday afternoon at Alfond Arena. Saturday’s game is set for 2 p.m., while the Black Bears and Skyhawks will finish off their series on Sunday at 3.
Maine sophomore forward Josh Nadeau scored a game winning third period goal on Sunday afternoon, as the Black Bears finished off a non-conference road sweep with a 6-2 victory over RPI in New York. Photo courtesy of UMaine Athletics
