On Friday, Oct. 2, the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team opened their season with a 4-1 win on the road against the College of Holy Cross.
The first period got off to a quick start with multiple penalties. Holy Cross second-year forward Ben Riche was called for cross-checking, while third-year forward Owen Kim received a game misconduct for contact to the head. This gave the Black Bears a 5-on-3 advantage for two minutes, followed by a 5-on-4 advantage for another three minutes.
During that 5-on-3 play, fourth-year forward Tanner Klimpke scored his first goal of the night, assisted by third-year defender Isa Parekh and fourth-year forward Sully Scholle. Once that goal was scored, the play shifted to 5-on-4 for the time remaining. Klimpke scored his second goal of the night just a little over two minutes later, once again assisted by Parekh and Scholle.
UMaine went on the power play again as Holy Cross first-year defender Jack Martin was called for holding. Shortly after that penalty expired, the Black Bears went on the power play for the fourth time that period with Crusaders third-year defender Owain Johnston going for high-sticking.
While UMaine had control during the first three power plays, Holy Cross had a much stronger penalty kill for the fourth one. They were able to control the puck and clear it out of their zone more than they had been able to previously.
With that strong penalty kill at the end of the period, the Crusaders ended the first period with some strong chances, though still trailing in goals.
Starting the second period, the Black Bears had strong possession of the puck, which led to another Holy Cross penalty. The power play did not end well for the Black Bears, though, as Holy Cross third-year forward Matt Kursonis was able to get a 2-on-1 opportunity and score a short-handed goal assisted by Riche. Following that goal and being able to kill the rest of the penalty, the Crusaders gained some momentum and got multiple shots on goal.
The Crusaders momentum didn’t last long as the Black Bears were once again able to gain possession of the puck and had multiple strong shots on goal, though none hit the back of the net.
To start the third period, Holy Cross came out strong looking to tie up the game. Fourth-year goaltender Albin Boija made some key saves to make sure the Black Bears kept the lead.
UMaine gained momentum from those saves and second-year forward Brock James scored to extend the Black Bears’ lead, assisted by second-year forward Lukas Peterson and fellow second-year forward Judah Makway. Following the goal, UMaine kept possession of the puck and had a few strong shots leading to Holy Cross second-year goaltender Danick Leroux making some important saves to keep the Crusaders in the game.
The Crusaders used their timeout to plan for 36 seconds of 5-on-3 play with just over five minutes left in the third period. Though they didn’t score on either power play, the Crusaders kept control of the game until they decided to pull Leroux with just over two minutes left.
Black Bear captain and fifth-year forward Owen Fowler closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal, assisted by Alfano and Peterson.
Overall the Black Bears played a strong game, with Boija making key saves throughout. The bright spot of the game though was the Black Bears’ penalty kill, as they did not allow a single power play goal.
The Black Bears return for their home opener against Quinnipiac University on Friday, Oct. 9, at Alfond Arena.
