ORONO- Jaden Lipinski scored a first period goal which was all that was needed on Saturday night, as #6 Maine men’s ice hockey capped off a season opening two game sweep with a 6-0 victory over Holy Cross at Alfond Arena.
Lipinski was the benefactor of a great pass by Jeremy Langlois on a 4 on 4 situation for the game winner in that first period. Lipinski broke in up the left wing, and dropped it to Langlois who then sent a perfect pass back to Lipinski across the low slot for an easy tap-in goal at 5:09. Josh Nadeau picked up his first two tallies of the season in the second period to stretch the advantage to 3-0. On the first one, Max Scott won a faceoff and got it to Nadeau in the high slot with Thomas Freel providing a screen in front of Holy Cross netminder Danik Leroux. Nadeau fired a wristshot that beat Leroux stick side inside the left post at 5:09. The junior forward was at it again just over six minutes later when the puck took a Maine bounce into the crease, and Nadeau came from behind the net to pounce on it and slam it past a sprawling Leroux and into the cage at 11:18. In the third, Thomas Freel tipped in a shot from the left point by Brandon Holt on the powerplay at 8:49, before Miguel Marques scored his first collegiate goal at 11:10. Oskar Komarov would finish the scoring on a great individual end to end effort with a shorthanded goal on a wraparound with 1:07 left in the game.
Nadeau (two goals), Lipinski (one goal, one assist), Scott (two assists), and Brandon Chabrier (two assists) each had two points in the Maine win. Albin Boija picked up his seventh career shutout by making 22 saves. The Black Bears went 1-4 on the powerplay. Leroux made 14 saves in the loss for Holy Cross. The Crusaders went 0-5 with their extra man opportunities including three powerplays in the opening period, as they now drop to 0-3 on the season. The Black Bears (2-0) travel to Hamden, Connecticut next weekend to battle Quinnipiac for a two game series on Friday night and Saturday evening. The Friday night game is at 7 p.m., while face-off is slated for 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Photos top to bottom of Josh Nadeau, Miguel Marques, and Thomas Freel courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco/All other photos by Chris Lessner
