The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team dropped their final road game of the season to the University of Massachusetts Minutemen 6-0.
The Minutemen started the game pressuring the Black Bears; second-year goaltender Jeremy Swayman held the Black Bears in the game by guarding the goal like a true stalwart against the Minutemen. Eight minutes into the first period the Minutemen opened up the scoring with second-year forward Oliver Chau picking up the puck from third-year forward Niko Hildenbrand in the neutral zone off an outlet pass from third-year defenseman Jake McLaughlin,. Chau drove to the Maine net and across the crease to lift a backhander past Swayman for his seventh tally of the season.
The Minutemen doubled their lead when second-year forwards Mitchell Chaffee and Mario Ferraro found themselves behind the Maine defense on a two man breakaway. After faking out Swayman, Ferraro picked up the goal for the Minutemen. UMass controlled the first period as they led 2-0 heading into the intermission.
The Minutemen kept the pressure on in the second period, scoring four goals on the Black Bears to put them away. Five minutes into the period, first-year forward Anthony Del Gaizo scored a backhand goal from the slot with the assist from first-year defenseman Colin Felix. With the Minutemen on the powerplay, first-year forward Ty Farmer crashed the net and made the score 4-0 with eight minutes left in the second period. Chau and Ferraro collected the assist on the goal. Chau later added his third point of the night, to tie a single-game career best, with his second goal of the game coming at the three minute mark assisted by third-year forward Hildenbrand and second-year forward George Mika. Second-year forward Jake Gaudet followed shortly after, scoring by putting his own rebound past the Swayman from the slot. Second-year defenseman Cale Makar and Chaffee earned the assist on the play, putting the Minutemen up 6-0.
The third period was all UMass, but neither teams found the back of the net and the score stayed at 6-0. Maine only had 16 shots on goal while UMass poured 45 shots on the Maine goaltenders. Swayman played the first two periods making 27 saves, and fourth-year goaltender Rob McGovern played the rest of the game making 12 saves. The Black Bears move to 14-15-4 and sit at sixth place in the Hockey East standings ahead of Boston College by one point as they go into the last weekend of the regular season.
The University of Maine men’s hockey team will take on the Boston University Terriers in a one game series at Alfond Arena in Orono on Friday, March 9. This will be the final game of the regular season and senior night for the Black Bears.
