Maine Hockey Journal

Nor’easters blow past Southern Maine

(PHOTO: UNE Athletic Dept.)

(PHOTO: UNE Athletic Dept.)

The University of New England scored seven unanswered goals over the final two periods to roll to a 9-2 New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) win over the University of Southern Maine in men’s action Friday evening before a standing-room-only record crowd of 1,253 at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The victory sets a school single-season record for the Nor’easters (11-5-2, 7-4-1 NEHC), eclipsing the previous mark of 10 wins established during the 2013-14 season. USM falls to 5-12-1 overall, 2-10-0 in conference play. UNE’s win avenged a 6-2 setback to the Huskies earlier in the season on Nov. 13.

UNE jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first period with goals from Dylan Bengston and Kyle Williams, only to see that lead quickly erased when Bob Ganley and Jimmy Currier answered 21 seconds apart at 14:01 and 14:22.

The two teams would remain deadlocked (2-2) heading into the first intermission.

From there it was all UNE. The Nor’easters exploded for five second-period goals over the final 9:21 of the frame to pull away. Armand Uolomeale scored on the back-hand from the low slot to start the barrage. Blaise Healy followed with a one-timer at 12:06, and Nik Dotolo notched his first collegiate marker on a shot from the right point less than a minute later to push the cushion to 4-1. Tucker Ross poked home his own rebound after another 16 seconds had elapsed, and Bengton capped the second-period scoring output with a power-play goal.

Ryan Quinn and Nick Wirth tacked-on third period goals for the Nor’easters, who held a slim 40-37 margin in shots on goal for the evening.

Healy finished with a career-best four-point evening, contributing three assists in addition to his one goal. Trevor Fleurent set-up three scores. Tom Gildersleeve, Ben Pearl and Ian Rodden contributed two assists apiece.

Mason Riley earned the win between the pipes, totaling 28 saves over the opening 51:20. Joe Noonan came on to stop seven shots the rest of the way.

Dylan Pietrangelo recorded 17 saves in 32:55 of action for the Huskies before being relieved by Kyle Shapiro, who made 14 saves in 27 minutes of playing time.

Both teams will play 7 p.m. non-conference road games Tuesday. Southern Maine is at Bowdoin College, while the Nor’easters will make the trip up to Colby College.

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