Captain Owen Fowler set the tone on Saturday night, scoring what turned out to be the game winning goal in the opening seconds of the first period as Maine men’s hockey won their first Hockey East game of the season with a 2-0 victory over UMass in front of a sellout crowd at Alfond Arena.
The home team got the Alfond crowd revved up very early, as Max Scott took the puck around the back of the Minutemen net and wrapped it around where he two chances at it with the second one ending up being kicked out onto the stick of a wide open Fowler who banged the rebound into the net just 19 seconds into the game. A night after Maine outshot UMass 47-22 in a 2-1 loss on Friday, they heavily outshot and outchanced them again on Saturday (19-3 shots on goal in the first, and 32-9 through two periods), but the contest remained 1-0 over the next 47:02. The Black Bears finally got some breathing room 7:21 into the third period when Tanner Klimpke scored his fifth goal of the season. Jaden Lipinski dropped a pass off to Sam Alfano, who then sent it to Klimpke who controlled it on his forehand before releasing a backhanded shot that beat Minutemen goaltender Ethan Eskit short side from a tough angle at the bottom of the right circle to help Maine end their three game losing streak.
After making 46 saves on Friday, Eskit made 42 in the loss on Saturday. His team was outshot 44-16 and 91-38 on the weekend, but still managed to get a split of the series. The Minutemen are now 5-5-1 and 2-1-0 in Hockey East. Isa Parekh, Scott, Lipinski, and Alfano each had an assist in the Maine win. Albin Boija recorded his second shutout of the season with 16 saves, as his team moves to 5-5 overall and 1-3 in league play. The Black Bears will travel to Vermont next weekend for a two game series with the first place Catamounts. Friday’s game is set for 7, while Saturday’s series finale is scheduled for a 5 p.m. faceoff.
Photo from Anthony DelMonaco (UMaine Athletics)
