Maine Hockey Journal

UNE fights till the finish, but fall short to Norwich

First-year forward Kyle Thomas (Waltham, Mass.) scored off a rebound 2:12 into the third period to break a 2-2 tie, as the 12th ranked Norwich University Cadets fought off the University of New England for a 4-2 ECAC Men’s East hockey victory in each team’s league-opener before a crowd of 565 Friday night at Biddeford Arena.

The Cadets, who tacked on an empty-net goal with less than a minute to play, improve to 1-0 overall and in league play. The Nor’easters are 0-2 overall, 0-1 in ECAC Men’s East competition.

The Nor’easters notched the lone goal of the first period when first-year forward Scott McManaman (Amherst, Nova Scotia) won a face-off, which sophomore Justin Miner (Stratham, N.H.) picked up then fired a wrist-shot into the cage at the 7:08 mark.

Norwich evened things up on the power play 3:41 into the second period when first-year forward Scott Schroeder (Drake, Saskatchewan) put home a rebound from close range.

The Cadets took the lead at 11:27 of the second when first-year forward Matt McCann (Newmarket, Ontario) beat UNE goaltender Mike Roper (New Glasgow, Nova Scotia) near-side with a wrist-shot.

UNE would draw even exactly six minutes later when junior Jack Nolin (Somersworth, N.H.) notched a power-play goal.

First-year forward Tory Allen (Davidson, Saskatchewan) scored with 19 seconds remaining after UNE had pulled Roper to make the final score of 4-2.

Senior goalie Ryan Klingensmith (Morton, Pa.) made 19 saves for the Cadets, including a point-blank stop on UNE first-year forward Brent Bourgeois (New Haven, Vt.) with 6:51 remaining to maintain the Norwich 3-2 lead.

Roper played a strong game between the pipes for the Nor’easters. He stopped 36 of the 39 shots that came his way.

Each team returns to the ice tomorrow with ECAC Men’s East contests. The Cadets will play at the University of Southern Maine (4 p.m.). UNE hosts Saint Michael’s College at 3 p.m.

(Courtesy of UNE Sport Information Services)

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