UMaine Men's Hockey Splits Series Hosting Providence

ORONO, ME – The University of Maine men’s hockey team fell 1-0 to the Providence College Friars on Friday night before rebounding with a hard-earned 3-1 win Saturday at Alfond Arena. Friday’s contest was a war of attrition marked by back-and-forth neutral zone play, minimal scoring chances, and few penalties. The teams skated to a 0-0 tie after the first period that saw each side post 12 shots on goal. Providence broke the tie on a Bryan Lemos tally at 5:10 of the second period. Ryan Tait and Matt Koopman picked up assists on what stood as the only goal of the evening. Maine notched 13 shots on net in the third, but could not solve Providence goalie Hayden Hawkey. The senior from Parker, Colorado recorded a 28 save shutout. Black Bear netminder Jeremy Swayman finished the night with 29 saves in the 1-0 loss.

Saturday’s matchup saw Maine respond with enough offense to pull off its seventh Hockey East win of the season. The Friars and Black Bears traded goals in a first period marked by a plethora of penalties, three against each team. Maine’s Chase Pearson opened the scoring at 11:39 of the first after finishing a feed from Brady Keeper. Providence had the answer just under four minutes later when Brandon Duhaime knotted the score. Both team’s first period goals came on the power play.

Even strength play with very few whistles took over the game in the second period. The 4,022 Black Bear fans in attendance grumbled when Maine’s Jakub Sirota was called for interference at 18:21 of the middle frame. Fans’ frustrations turned to joy when Brendan Robbins scored a shorthanded, unassisted goal 41 seconds later. Robbins followed a Maine clear up ice into the Providence zone and forced the Friars defense to chase him as they were pressing up on the power play. The senior from Nashua, New Hampshire darted into the Friars end of the ice on the right-wing side and beat netminder Hayden Hawkey with a close-range wrist shot.

Maine continued to play with intensity and defended its 2-1 lead in the third. Providence fired 12 shots on Black Bears goalie Jeremy Swayman in the final frame, but could not light the lamp. Mitchell Fossier added an empty-net goal at 19:04 of the third to seal the 3-1 Black Bear victory. Hawkey finished the night with 31 saves in the loss while Swayman stopped 29 shots in his eleventh win of the 2018-19 campaign.

Maine is now in sole possession of 8th place in the Hockey East standings with 17 points, but spots 3 through 8 in the conference are separated by only four points. The Black Bears return to action on February 15th and 16th for a pair of games at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA.