ORONO- Thomas Freel scored a powerplay goal with 4:17 left in the third period Friday, lifting #9 Maine over #12 UMass 2-1 in men’s Hockey East action at the Alfond Arena. The win clinched the #3 seed in the conference for the Black Bears, which means a home playoff quarterfinal next Saturday night at 7 p.m.
UMass would strike early to silence the sold out crowd. Michael Cameron got to a puck in the Maine zone, and poked it past freshman goaltender Albin Boija at 2:54 to make it 1-0 Minutemen. Boija thought one of his defenseman would get to the puck first so he didn’t come out to play it, but Cameron was the first to it and Boija whiffed on the pokecheck leading to Cameron finding the back of the net. The Black Bears got even later in the period, and it was the Nadeau connection that made that happen. Bradly Nadeau won a battle in his own zone, and took it up ice on a 3 on 1 break. Bradly beat his man into the offensive zone, where he passed it to his brother Josh Nadeau in the low slot. Josh returned it to Bradly for a one-timer from the left faceoff circle at 15:50 to tie it 1-1. It was the 17th goal of the season for Bradly Nadeau.
we've seen this one before 😏
💻: https://t.co/wyYf5aWUJ4 | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/aJK4SkzR6K
— Maine Men’s Ice Hockey (@MaineIceHockey) March 9, 2024
UMass had a pair of powerplay opportunities in the second period, but Boija came up with some key saves to keep the score tied through 40 minutes. Lynden Breen almost put Maine ahead when he skated in and shot one past Minutemen goalie Michal Hrabal, but it hit the crossbar with 8:53 left to play. The Black Bears got a powerplay shortly after that, but nearly gave up a shorthanded goal during the extra man advantage. Ryan Lautenbach came the other way on a partial breakout about a minute into the powerplay and moved in on Boija and got a shot off. Boija didn’t know where the puck was, but it was loose and trapped underneath him. Lautenbach took another swipe at it, but Harrison Scott was able to clear it out to thwart the chance. Bradly Nadeau created the next Maine powerplay chance that led to the game winner, when he was tripped as he came in down the right wing on Hrabal. Just 29 seconds into that opportunity, Sully Scholle dangled with it in the middle of the high slot and fired a shot that was tipped into the net by the stick of Freel at 15:43. With Hrabal pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute, UMass had a couple more great looks to try to extend the game. Boija came up big again, including a sprawling pad save on a cross ice pass to Scott Morrow for a one-timer with 34 seconds left.
Boija finished with 26 saves on the night in the Maine win, as he moves to 8-5-1 on the season. Josh Nadeau, Scholle, and Scott all had one assist each. The Black Bears went 1-3 on the powerplay, as they improve their record to 21-10-2 and 13-9-1 in Hockey East. Ryan Ufko and Lucas Vanroboys each had an assist in the loss for UMass. Hrabal stopped 27 shots. The Minutemen went 0-3 on the powerplay, in falling to 19-11-3 and 12-9-2 in the conference. The teams finish off the regular season with game two of the weekend on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Maine will honor their seniors as part of senior night. The third place finish in Hockey East is the best for the Black Bears since 2006 when they finished second. They were picked to finish ninth this season in the preseason poll in September.
Recap/photos/videos by Chris Lessner/Nadeau goal video courtesy of Maine Ice Hockey on Twitter (X)
