DURHAM, N.H. - Sophomore Stevie Moses (Leominster, Mass.) notched two goals and classmate Mike Borisenok (Watervliet, N.Y.) tallied a goal and two assists as the University of New Hampshire recorded a 5-2 Hockey East victory over the University of Maine in front of a sold-out crowd of 6,501 fans, who were decked out in white for the annual "White Out the Whit," at the Whittemore Center on Saturday night.
The Wildcats, who have now won 10 of their last 12 against Maine, including six straight, improve to 2-2-1 (2-0-0 HE) on the season. The Black Bears fall to 1-5-0 overall and 0-2-0 in the conference.
With the game knotted at one 3:31 into the second period, UNH seized the lead when Moses struck for the first time this year. Borisenok held the puck along the boards at the right circle when he slid it behind the net for junior Paul Thompson (Derry, N.H.). Thompson quickly fed the puck to the slot, where Moses received it, made a move around a defender and put it in the empty left side of the net after Sirman went down.
Moses' second of the game gave UNH some insurance with 4:19 remaining in the middle stanza. Thompson passed the puck from behind the net to the left of the circle, where Borisenok fed Moses in the high slot for a wrister that beat Sirman over his right shoulder to put UNH on top 3-1. The two goals matched a career high for Moses, who also potted two goals at home against Providence last season Feb. 13.
Just 1:46 before the second intermission, the Wildcats went up 4-1 when Borisenok recorded a goal of his own. With a man advantage, junior Phil DeSimone (East Amherst, N.Y.) slid the puck from left to right along the blue line for sophomore Damon Kipp (Salmon Arm, British Columbia), who rifled a shot off the right pad of Sirman before Borisenok cleaned up the rebound and put the puck in the back of the net. Borisenok, who had just two points a year ago, has already tripled his scoring output with six points in five contests this season.
Midway through the final period, Maine cut its deficit to two on the power play when Jeff Dimmen connected on a pass below the right circle with Nyquist, who quickly fed Will O'Neill in the slot that set up a shot that beat senior goaltender Brian Foster (Pembroke, N.H.) into the top left corner of the net.
Sophomore Blake Kessel (Verona, Wis.) put the game away with an empty-net goal that he lobbed in from outside the zone on the right with 1:10 on the clock.
Foster made 22 saves, including 10 in the third period. Sirman stopped 18 shots, while Scott Darling, who replaced Sirman at the start of the final stanza, recorded three saves.
Maine drew first blood, while on the power play, at 9:23 of the opening period when Gustav Nyquist made a pass from behind the UNH net into the slot, where it connected with Tanner House, who sent a wrist shot toward the net that beat Foster top shelf to give the Black Bears a 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats, who held a slim 26-24 edge in shots, including 15-5 in the second period, answered just 17 seconds later when junior Greg Manz (Wayne, Pa.) netted his first goal of the season. Kessel dumped the puck into the right corner, where freshman Greg Burke (Lee, N.H.) beat a pair of Maine defenders to retrieve it and backhand it toward the net. The puck bounced off the side of the net and Manz, rushing in from the right, flicked the puck off of Sirman's pad and into the net to tie the game at one. It was the first career point for Burke.
The Wildcats return to action Friday, Oct. 30 (8 p.m.) when they begin a two-game set with the University of Wisconsin at Kohl Center.