The University of Maine men’s and women’s ice hockey teams hosted a pair of games each on Friday and Saturday. The women hosted #14 UConn in Orono before hosting #13 Providence in Auburn, while the men took on #17 Providence with both games at Alfond Arena.
In the men’s game Friday night- Jakub Sirota scored a game winning goal with 5:54 left in the third period lifting Maine to a 3-2 win over #17 Providence. Didrik Henbrandt had given the Black Bears a 1-0 in the first period, before Nick Poisson tied it with a late first period marker and Craig Needham scored at 5:15 of the second to make it 2-1 Friars. Lynden Breen tied it 2-2 at 12:52 of the second. Henbrandt had a goal and an assist, and Nolan Renwick had two assists in the win. Victor Ostman made 29 saves in net. Philip Svedeback made 32 stops in the loss for Providence.
On Saturday night- Ostman came up huge in net and helped Maine finish the sweep by making 52 saves in a 3-0 victory. Providence ended up with a 52-21 shots on goal advantage, but the play of Ostman and a first period powerplay goal by Breen is all the Black Bears needed. Donovan Villeneuve-Houle scored at 9:19 of the third, and Henbrandt finished off his solid weekend with a late empty net tally. Breen had a goal and an assist, and Thomas Freel had two assists in the victory. Svedeback made 18 saves in the loss for the Friars, who fall to 12-9-6 overall and 7-5-5 in Hockey East. It is the second conference sweep on the season for Maine. They swept Vermont in Burlington back on December 2 and 3.
Photo by Chris Lessner at Alfond Arena on Saturday, January 14 during the Maine men’s ice hockey game against UMass-Lowell
At the Alfond on Friday afternoon- The Maine women’s team got an unassisted overtime goal from Grace Heiting to beat #14 UConn 5-4. Ava Stevenson, Anna Caumo, Ally Johnson, and Ida Kuoppala had the other goals for the Black Bears. Johnson and Kuoppala each had a goal and an assist, while Anna LaRose made 27 saves in net in the win. Jada Habisch had two goals, and Coryn Tormala had a goal and an assist in the loss for the Huskies. Megan Warrener had 25 stops in goal. UConn fell to 16-9-3, 10-8-3 in Hockey East.
On Saturday evening at Norway Savings Arena in Auburn- Lilli Welcke scored her second goal of the game with 6:36 left in regulation for Maine to send it to overtime, and the Black Bears and #13 Providence College would end in a 4-4 tie. The hosts had a 3-1 lead in the second period, but the Friars scored with less than a second to go in that frame and then scored at 4:45 and 8:29 of the third that gave them a 4-3 advantage. Along with the two goals from Lilli Welcke, Luisa Welcke and Mira Seregely both had two assists. LaRose made 28 saves. Maddy Coene had a goal and an assist for PC, and Sandra Abstreiter also had 28 stops in net. The Friars record is now 18-8-4, 13-6-4 in conference play.
Photo taken by Anthony DelMonaco during a Maine women’s hockey game earlier this season against Northeastern at Alfond Arena
The Maine men’s record improves to 11-12-2, 5-8-1 in Hockey East as they will host Boston University next Friday night at 7 p.m. and Merrimack College on Sunday afternoon at 2. The women’s team is unbeaten in four straight games going to 13-14-2 overall and 10-10-2 in Hockey East. They will play a single game at Holy Cross next Friday night at 6.
Recaps by Chris Lessner
