A late Breen goal lifts Maine men’s hockey to a sweep of UMass on Senior Weekend

Published by %s
March 9, 2024

Lynden Breen scored a game winning goal with 1:17 left in the third period Saturday night, sending #9 Maine past #12 UMass 4-3 in men’s Hockey East action on the final night of the regular season at another sold out Alfond Arena in Orono. The victory completes a weekend sweep, and gives the Black Bears some momentum with a three game win streak heading into a home conference playoff quarterfinal next Saturday night.

Maine would score on their only two powerplay opportunities of the night in the first period to take the lead. Harrison Scott got the first one at 5:18. Donovan Villeneuve-Houle dangled through the high slot, and set Scott up for a one-timer from just outside the circle that found the back of the net.

Sully Scholle made it 2-0 at 10:37, getting a cross-ice pass from Brandon Holt and firing a beautiful one-timed shot from the right circle into the upper corner of the cage over the shoulder of UMass goalie Michael Hrabal that he had very little chance on.

The Minutemen cut the deficit in half just 38 seconds later, as Lucas Mercuri got to the front of the net and received a pass from Taylor Makar. Mercuri was being checked and was falling to the ice, but got enough of the shot for it to evade Black Bears goalie Albin Boiji at 11:15.

UMass really controlled play for most of the second period, and would take their only lead of the night both on rebounds that Boija couldn’t handle cleanly. Cole O’Hara got the equalizer to make it 2-2 on the powerplay at 4:15, before Jake Musa got one even strength just 2:05 later to make it 3-2 Minutemen. Maine battled back and equalized on a pretty play at the 11:22 mark to send the game to the third tied up at 3-3. Nolan Renwick skated across the blue line and into the high slot, where he dropped a pass in between his legs to Bradly Nadeau behind him just inside the blue line. Bradly set up his brother Josh Nadeau for a one-timer, as his slapshot found the twine from the left circle.

The Maine freshman netminder Boija was big once again, making several Grade A saves in the second and third period keeping his team in the game. It looked late that the contest may go to overtime, but Breen changed that in the last few moments. The senior forward picked off a pass by UMass defenseman Scott Morrow, and quickly took advantage of that turnover by striding into the left faceoff circle and sending a wristshot into the far corner of the goal glove side on Hrabal at 18:43 for the game winner. It was the eighth goal of the season for Breen and 100th career point.

Just as they did in the final minute in Friday nights loss, the Minutemen had some pressure with Hrabal pulled for an extra attacker with 50 seconds remaining The defense did a good job in front of Boija, helping to run off the final seconds to pick up the two game sweep.

Boija made 34 saves in the Maine win. Villeneuve-Houle had two assists, while Thomas Freel, Holt, Renwick, and Bradly Nadeau had one assist each. The Black Bears went 2-2 on the powerplay, with both coming in that first period. Hrabal made 24 saves in the loss for UMass. O’Hara had one goal and one assist. The Minutemen went 1-3 on the powerplay, and finish their regular season as the #5 conference seed with a record of 19-12-3 and 12-10-2 in Hockey East. They needed a win Saturday night to be able to host Providence in the quarterfinals next Saturday, but now will have to go on the road to take on the #4 Friars. Maine ends a very successful regular season at 22-10-2 and 14-9-1 in the league. The Black Bears already had wrapped up the #3 seed with their victory on Friday, and will host a quarterfinal at the Alfond next Saturday night at 7 with an opponent to be determined after the opening round concludes on Wednesday. The 22 wins is the most for Maine since the 2011-12 season, which is also the last time they hosted a quarterfinal. The 2011-12 team went 23-17, defeated Merrimack and Boston University in the quarterfinals and semifinals, before falling to Boston College in the Hockey East Championship game. They were eliminated 5-2 by Minnesota-Duluth in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This version of the Black Bears hope to be going further, and have already solidified themselves for at least an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament with their performance this weekend no matter what happens in the Hockey East playoffs. Seniors Ben Poisson, Villeneuve-Houle, Breen, and goaltenders Victor Ostman along with Connor Androlewicz were honored after the game.

Recap by Chris Lessner/Photos by Anthony DelMonaco/Videos courtesy of Maine Ice Hockey on Twitter (X)

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