ORONO, Maine - Teddy Purcell scored the game-winner at 4:17 in overtime as the University of Maine men's ice hockey team defeated Northeastern 2-1 on Saturday night at Alfond Arena. Northeastern's Chad Costello scored first for the Huskies, but a power play goal by Billy Ryan tied the game for Maine. Maine had a 33 to 17 lead on shots in the game. Black Bears are now 16-7-2 overall and 9-7-1 in Hockey East while Northeastern is 9-12-4 overall and 6-10-4 in conference play.

In the first period, Maine and Northeastern traded early power play chances but neither team could generate many shots. Northeastern's Jacques Perreault came close when he hit the right pipe at 6:30 into the game. Ten minutes into the game, Maine had two shots and Northeastern one. The Huskies were able to break through first when Chad Costello scored at 17:38 with assists from Kyle Kraemer and Steve Birnstill. Northeastern led seven to five on shots in the first period.

Maine came out of the locker room for the second period strong, getting the first ten shots of the period. The Black Bears had two power play chances and were able to get three shots on net, but all were saved by Brad Thiessen. Northeastern had their first shot on net at 14:20 in the period, but it was saved by Ben Bishop (Des Peres, Mo.). On their sixth power play chance of the game, Maine was able to tie the game. Bret Tyler (Maynard, Mass.) took a shot from the point that was tipped in by Billy Ryan (Milton, Mass.) in front of the net. Keenan Hopson (Prince George, British Columbia) also had an assist on the power play goal at 18:41. Maine ended the second period with a 17 to four lead on shots.

The third period saw the Huskies go on the power play when Mike Lundin (Apple Valley, Minn.) was called for his first penalty of the season, but Maine was able to kill the advantage. Later in the period, Maine had a 1:11 stretch of a four-on-three advantage, but could not score as shots kept going wide for the Black Bears. Northeastern had a chance on the power play late in the period, but Maine again was able to keep the Huskies from finding the net. Maine had a nine to six lead on shots following the third period.

The Black Bears entered their fourth overtime game of the season. Maine's Michel Léveillé (Levis, Quebec) had a shot saved with 1:30 remaining in the extra time. With 43 seconds left, Keenan Hopson kept the puck in the Maine zone and passed it to Bret Tyler. Bret Tyler then feed the puck across to Teddy Purcell (St. John's, Newfoundland) who scored the game-winner.

In goal, Maine's Ben Bishop had 16 saves and one goal against. For Northeastern, Brad Thiessen had two goals against and 31 saves. Maine had four penalties for eight minutes and Northeastern had eight penalties for 16 minutes. On power plays, Maine was 1-7 and Northeastern was 0-3. For the game, Maine outshot Northeastern 33 to 17.

The Black Bears will face New Hampshire next weekend for two games. On Friday, the game will be played in Manchester and begin at 7:00 pm on CSTV. On Saturday, the teams will meet at the Whittemore Center at 7:00 pm. For tickets or more information on University of Maine athletics, visit www.GoBlackBears.com or call 581-BEAR.