Coming into this week, the University of Maine hockey team was on a two-game win-streak, having defeated Bryant University last Friday 6-1 and Boston University 5-0 the following day. The Black Bears were looking to keep this high during their last regular season home game of the year. Unfortunately, this was not the case as Maine dropped a close one to the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) with a score of 3-2 on Friday, Oct. 24.
The River Hawks scored early with third-year forward Karli Penrod netting a goal just under seven minutes into the game. Maine earned one of their own with fourth-year midfielder Zoe Furber scoring at the 23 minute mark coming off of a penalty corner, assisted by first-year back Nicole Kowalewski. This was Furber’s 8th goal of the season, which leads the Black Bears.
Maine took the lead at the start of the fourth quarter as third-year forward Saylor Kuefler received a pass from Furber and consequently powered a shot over UML’s goalkeeper to propel the Black Bears up 2-1 with 14 minutes left in the game. This was Kuefler’s fifth goal of the season and Furber’s third assist.
Penrod evened the score at two with her second goal of the game coming at the 48 minute mark. Maine and Lowell looked as though they were heading to overtime until third-year midfielder Alice Van Hemelen snuck a shot past Black Bear goalie grad Rozárie Mrázová, with three minutes left in the game. Maine could not find another spark, not scoring again before time expired. The final score was UMass Lowell 3, UMaine 2.
Maine was not going to let one loss keep them down though. On Friday, Oct. 24, the Black Bears traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts to play Holy Cross (HC). Maine was able to get back on track, beating the Crusaders 2-0.
Maine’s first score of the game came from a penalty corner as third-year midfielder Brynn Dzengelewski passed the ball inside to Kuefler who was able to settle the ball just enough for third-year back Eloise Penty to blast a shot past the Holy Cross goalkeeper. This was her sixth goal of the season, tying her with fourth-year midfielder Olivia Geniti as the team’s second leading scorers.
The second score of the game happened not even four minutes later as Kuefler received a penalty corner pass from Penty and was able to dish the ball to first-year forward Martha Barratt. This was Barratt’s fifth goal of the season.
Neither team would score in the second half, meaning the final score was the University of Maine 2, Holy Cross 0. This was Maine’s third shutout of the season.
The Black Bears will finish out the regular season on Thursday, Oct. 30 at the University of Vermont at 3:00PM. Following their match against UVM, the Black Bears will be in the America East tournament and will look to rekindle some of their magic from the 2021 season in which they won the conference. The final bracket and official standings will be announced prior to the start of the America East tournament on Sunday, November 2nd.
