ORONO- Josh Player scored a game winning second period goal on Saturday night, as UNH finished off a stunning weekend sweep over #11 Maine 3-2 at the Alfond Arena in men’s Hockey East action. It is the first Wildcats sweep in Orono in almost 18 years.
The Black Bears got off to the start they needed early in the first period. Brandon Holt along the left wing boards was able to spot Josh Nadeau with a back door pass, and Nadeau was able to tap it in past Wildcats goaltender Kyle Chauvette at 2:47. It was the first goal scored on Chauvette in 133:57 of game action, as he entered Saturday night with two straight shutouts. UNH responded to even things when Nick Ring made a curl drag move across the high slot and into the left circle, firing a wrister that deflected off a stick in front and past Maine netminder Albin Boija at 6:44.
The visiting Wildcats took control in the middle stanza, taking advantage of Black Bear errors to take a two goal lead. After a bad pass by Justin Poirier, UNH kept possession and capitalized when J.P. Turner scored from the slot at 9:18. The ‘Cats made it 3-1 when Player from a bad angle got a wrishot off from the right circle that squeezed inside the near post and across the goal line at 11:59 for his first collegiate goal and the eventual game winner. Boija was pulled after 40 minutes in favor of freshman Mathis Rousseau. Maine would get within a goal when Holt let a shot fly that found the back of the net from the left point at 4:31 of the third, with Thomas Freel providing the screen in front to take away the eyes for Chauvette. Despite the strong push and pulling Rousseau for an extra attacker with 1:57 left, the Black Bears couldn’t find the equalizer in what turned out a very disappointing weekend in suffering their first home sweep since the end of the 2022-23 season (vs UMass).
Morgan Winters, Brendan Fitzgerald, Cam MacDonald, Jacob Newcombe, and Nick De Angelis each added an assist in the victory for UNH as they win their fourth straight game. Chauvette had 28 saves. The Wildcats (9-7, 5-4 in Hockey East) complete a sweep at the Alfond for the first time since February 8-9, 2008. Holt had a goal and an assist for Maine, while Nick Peluso and Thomas Pichette both added one assist each. Boija made 11 saves on 14 shots in his 40 minutes in net, while Rousseau stopped all three shots he faced in the third period. The Black Bears have now lost four games at home in the 2025-26 season, as many as they had combined over the past two years. Maine drops to 8-7-1 and 5-5-0 in conference play and will take on UMass-Lowell on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in a home game that will be played in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena.
Featured photo courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco (UMaine Athletics)
