Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
ORONO, ME. — The 17th-ranked Maine Black Bears erased an early deficit and added a pair of late third period goals to take a 6-1 Hockey East win over Vermont Friday night at Alfond Arena.
COACH’S QUOTE
“All the credit to Maine tonight,” said head coach Kevin Sneddon. “They were excellent on special teams and to be honest, we did not perform very well after the first. We will need to regroup and play much better overall tomorrow afternoon.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Bryce Misley gave Vermont a 1-0 lead at 13:46 of the first period. After a Maine icing, Misley won the offensive zone draw before collecting a pass from Riley McCutcheon in the slot and wiring a shot over Jeremy Swayman’s glove.
Adam Dawe tied the game at 19:10 of the opening frame on Maine’s first power play chance. Dawe planted on the backdoor and quick puck movement from Eduards Tralmaks and Mitchell Fossier gave Dawe a tap-in goal.
Tralmaks gave Maine a 2-1 lead at 4:58 of the second period with just two seconds remaining on a five-minute Black Bear power play. Tralmaks rifled a one-timer from the slot that rung the right post before finding the back of the net.
Ryan Smith doubled the Black Bear lead at 6:29 of the middle frame, collecting a pass from JD Greenway in the slot on a Maine oddman rush before wiring a wrist shot past Stefanos Lekkas.
Jack Quinlivan made it 4-1 Maine at 5:37 of the third. Sam Rennaker carried the puck down the left wing on a Black Bear 2-on-1 before passing across the slot to Quinlivan for the goal.
Maine added a pair of goals in the final five minutes of the third period off the sticks of Quinlivan and Patrick Shea to push the final to 6-1.
GAME NOTES
Thomas Beretta picked up the secondary assist on Misley’s third goal of the season. McCutcheon’s assist marked the first of his collegiate career.
Lekkas recorded 35 saves in the loss. Swayman made 23 saves to pick up the win.
Maine finished the night 2-for-4 on the power play while Vermont went 0-for-5. Vermont won the faceoff battle with a 31-for-55 (56.3%) effort.
UP NEXT
Vermont and Maine close out the season series tomorrow at Alfond Arena. The game is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. and will broadcast on NESN.