ORONO- The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team got the only goal they needed from Cole Hanson early in the third period Saturday night, and would score three more times in a 4-0 non-conference win over #3 Quinnipiac in the home opener at the Alfond Arena.
It was a defensive battle through the first 43 minutes plus. Quinnipiac (2-1-2) had two powerplay opportunities in the first period, with 20 seconds of a 5 on 3. The Bobcats best chance was a shot by Collin Graf that hit the post. The best chance for Maine in the opening 20 was a 3 on 2 breakout, where Lyndon Breen skated all alone into the high slot but was stopped by QU goaltender Yaniv Perets. The stalemate continued through the second period, with both Victor Ostman and Perets making timely saves to keep it scoreless. Hanson got the game winner at 3:13 of the third. A point shot got re-directed into the slot in front of Perets, where the Black Bears got two chances at it with Hanson being the second as he roofed it to the top corner of the net. On the powerplay, Ben Poisson made it 2-0. Breen won a battle along the boards, finding Poisson in the high slot who took one stride and wristed it home five-hole at 12:45. Matthew Fawcett scored on his former team at the 15:00 mark, getting a lead pass from Donvan Villeneuve-Houle for the breakaway goal. The scoring was finished off by Nolan Renwick just over two minutes later, tallying on a one-timer from the left faceoff circle on a pass from Justin Michaelian on a 2 on 1 breakout.
Ostman registered his first career shutout with 33 saves in the win. Poisson had a goal and an assist, Brandon Holt had two assists, while Didrik Henbrandt, Grant Herbert, Villeneuve-Houle, Breen, and Michaelian had one helper each. It was a bounce back performance for Maine (2-2), after a disappointing 5-1 road loss to Bentley University out of the Atlantic Hockey Association last Saturday. Perets made 30 saves in the loss for Quinnipiac who is the preseason favorite out of the ECAC, and was coming off a tie and a win on the road last weekend over then #3 North Dakota. The teams finish off their two game series on Sunday with faceoff scheduled for shortly after 4 p.m.
