Maine Hockey Journal

Southern Maine falls to Amherst

Gorham, ME — Sophomore goaltender Jonathan LaRose (Boyle, Alberta) stopped 23 of 24 shots as Amherst College defeated the University of Southern Maine, 3-1, Friday night in an ECAC East-NESCAC inter-league game at the USM Ice Arena.

The win extends the Lord Jeffs winning streak to four games, and improves their record to 8-3-1 overall and 6-1-1 in league play. The Huskies had their modest two-game winning streak stopped to fall to 7-7-0 overall and 4-4-0 in league games.

LaRose made 12 saves in the final period as Southern Maine pressured Amherst trying to overcome a 2-0 deficit. Southern Maine cut the margin in half at 6:08 when sophomore Paul Conter (Woodbridge, Ontario) netted a power-play goal set up by senior Dan Gordon (Lynnfield, Mass.) and junior Pat Noonan (Burlington, Mass.). LaRose held his ground the rest of the way, including the final minute when USM had the goalie out for the extra attacker.

While Amherst was enjoying a seven-minute man advantage, junior Keith Nelson (Manalapan, N.J.) snapped a scoreless tie at 10:22 of the second period with a power-play goal, assisted by senior Ted Vickers (Chilliwack, B.C.) and Jeff Landers (Hanover, Mass.).
Freshman Mike Baran (Duxbury, Mass.) doubled the Lord Jeffs’ lead with a second power-play goal at 16:08. Vickers and Nelson picked up the helpers.

Sophomore Matt Rhone (Dedham, Mass.) closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1.1 seconds left.

USM freshman goalie Koray Celik (Ile-bizzard, Quebec) played an outstanding game in a losing effort making 37 saves before being lifted.

Southern Maine returns to action Saturday afternoon (4:00 p.m.) when it hosts Hamilton College.

Amherst travels to play at Salem State College on Saturday (3:00 p.m.).

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