The 11th ranked University of Maine men’s hockey team, after a week off for Thanksgiving, will hope to finish the first half of the season with more consistency in their final five games before the Christmas break that will have the Black Bears idle for 17 days with the Denver Pioneers waiting in the wings out in Colorado for the first contests of 2026.
Maine (8-5-1, 5-3-0 Hockey East) will play all five games in front of a home crowd, including three straight conference matchups beginning this weekend with their Border Battle rivalry series with UNH in Orono. They will then face UMass-Lowell next Wednesday in a game that will be played in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena, and will finish the first half with two more contests back at the Alfond in non-conference vs independent Lindenwood University on December 13th and 14th. Since they swept a Hockey East home series over Boston University on October 31st-November 1st (5-4 in OT and 8-5), they have split their last six games all in league action. The Black Bears put up one of their top performances of the season in beating UMass on the road 6-2 on November 6th where they outshot the Minutemen 54-16, before losing 4-0 the second night. After a 7-0 home victory over Vermont on November 14th, the Catamounts responded with a 2-1 win in the finale. In the most recent series, Maine was immediately playing from behind by giving up two first period powerplay goals in falling at Boston College 7-3 on November 21st. Freshman goaltender Mathis Rousseau helped salvage the split as he recorded his first career shutout in his third collegiate game in net in a 3-0 victory at Conte Forum on the second night.
UNH (7-7, 3-4 Hockey East) storms into Alfond Arena playing much better hockey lately, with a 4-3 road win over UConn on November 22nd and 3-0 victory at Bentley this past Saturday. They have also defeated the current #3 team in the country Michigan State on the road in the opening game of the season. Morgan Winters (six goals, three assists), Felix Gagnon (five goals, four assists), and Nick Ring (two goals, seven assists) lead the Wildcats with nine points each. Kyle Chauvette has played 13 of the 14 games in net and has a record of 6-7 with a 2.68 goals against average, an .899 save percentage, and two shutouts. Maine is 3-0-1 in their last four vs UNH, that includes a 5-0 win in Orono in a Hockey East quarterfinal playoff during the 2023-24 season. The next opponent, UMass-Lowell, is also seeking some consistency as they head into their two game league series this weekend with Boston College with an overall record of 6-8 and 3-3 in the conference. The independents from Lindenwood will have a total of two weeks off before facing Maine and have a record of 8-6 that includes a split with nationally ranked and current #6 Denver earlier in the year. The Lions are also 4-0 on the road.
Maine must continue trying to stay disciplined and remain out of the penalty box. The Black Bears also need to get off to better starts. In games they’ve scored the first goal they are 5-0-1 on the season, while all five of their losses have come when their opponents score first (3-5). The powerplay has looked better lately, but overall is only operating at 18% so far on the season (10-56), while they’ve allowed a powerplay goal against 24% of the time shorthanded (14-59). Freshman forwards Justin Poirier (11 goals, six assists) and Miguel Marques (six goals, seven assists) are both in the top 10 in the country for rookies in total points. It should be interesting to see what the goalie situation is for Coach Barr especially for these last five games of the first half. Junior Albin Boija has been very shaky so far including allowing six goals on 27 shots in the 7-3 loss at BC, while the freshman Rousseau stepped up big with several Grade A saves in the shutout the next night over the Eagles to pick up an important split for his team and the first shutout for Maine in any game vs BC since 2004. The scoring doesn’t seem to be a problem in 2025-26 averaging almost four goals a game, and currently having nine skaters with eight points or more. But staying out of the box, limiting mistakes and unforced errors, and getting solid goaltending must be there for these five games and for the rest of the year if the Black Bears want to have a chance at a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Photos courtesy of Chris Lessner (Eastern Maine Sports) and UMaine Athletics
