It was a busy Friday afternoon and evening for Maine athletics, as the field hockey, and the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams were all in action.
At Orono in the afternoon, the Black Bears Field Hockey team hosted Vermont to kick off homecoming weekend and it was also senior day for Maine.
The visitors from Vermont however spoiled the festivities with a 3-0 win over the 15th ranked Black Bears. Pleun Haantjes and Bailey Matthews scored first half goals to help upend the hosts. Maine had the edge in shots 9-8 and in corners 7-6. Sierra Espeland stopped all nine shots for the shutout win for the Catamounts. Mia Borley made five stops in the loss. Maine drops to 13-4, 4-3 America East, while Vermont goes to 8-9, 4-3. Maine finishes up the regular season at UMass-Lowell Sunday.
In the evening at the Alfond Arena, the #10 Maine women’s ice hockey team skated to a 5-3 Hockey East win over rival UNH.
Maine (6-1, 2-1 Hockey East) took an early 2-0 lead before the Wildcats came back to tie it in the first period. The Bears had a slight 3-2 edge headed to the third period, and Tereza Vanisova scored the eventual game winner in the final frame. Michelle Weis, Vendula Pribylova, Celine Tedenby, and Brittany Colton had the other goals. Vanisova and Weis also had an assist each, while Ida Press had two. Loryn Porter made 17 saves to get the win in the Maine net. UNH drops to 1-5, 1-4. The Bears host #6 Boston College for a Hockey East showdown and matchup of top 10 teams Sunday at 2 pm.
At the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut the Maine men’s ice hockey team opened up Hockey East play with a 5-2 loss to the Huskies.
Tim Doherty scored 1:18 into the game to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead. Alexander Payusov and Karl El-Mir both scored though for UConn in the first to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead. El-Mir scored what proved to be the game winner in the third period shorthanded to make it 3-1. Emil Westurland got Maine back within a goal just 1:42 later, but goals by Carter Turnbull and Benjamin Freeman 4:52 apart ended the scoring and sent the Bears to their third straight loss. Maine falls to 2-3, 0-1 Hockey East. UConn is 3-2, 1-1. The two teams meet again Saturday afternoon at 3:05 to finish off the two game series.
