ORONO, Maine -- Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ontario) tallied two goals and dished out a pair of assists to lead the University of Maine men's ice hockey team to a 6-4 exhibition victory over the U.S. Under-18 Team in a Thanksgiving Eve battle at Alfond Arena on Wednesday night.
Maine took a 1-0 lead 6:49 into the first period when Nick Pryor (Woodbury, Minn.) made a long pass from his defensive zone and found John Parker (Green Brook, N.J.) who had a step on his defender and beat U.S. Under-18 Team goalie Jake Rutledge. Maine made it a 2-0 advantage at 10:34 of the first. Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Abbott passed the puck back and forth several times, before Abbott found Will O'Neill (Salem, Mass.) alone at the back post. He shot the puck into the open net, as Rutledge had already committed for a power play goal.
Stefan Matteau put the U.S. Under-18 Team on the board at 12:36 of the first period with a power play goal. He received the puck from Riley Barber and beat Maine goalie Martin Ouellette (St.-Hippolyte, Quebec) with a shot from the slot. Miles Koules also assisted on the play.
Nicolas Kerdiles tied the game for the U.S. Under-18 Team with just 27 seconds remaining in the first period with the team's second power play goal of the frame.
Maine scored a power play goal of its own at 1:46 of the second period. Abbott and O'Neill teamed up to find Adam Shemansky (Robbinsville, N.J.) on the goal line. He had his shot from a nearly impossible angle beat Rutledge. Brendan Silk wasted little time tying the score at 3-3 when he scored just over three minutes later from Patrick Sieloff from the right face-off circle.
Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) then put the Black Bears ahead for good at 11:45 when he picked the puck from a U.S. Under-18 Team defender and skated in alone on netminder Collin Olson, who had replaced Rutledge. DIamond faked a shot, waited and then fired the puck past Olson for a short-handed goal.
Maine extended its lead to 5-3 at 16:19 of the second period. Flynn won a face-off back to Diamond, who had the initial shot on goal. The rebound when to Abbott who beat Olson. Abbott made it a 6-3 advantage at 1:08 of the third period with a power play goal. Flynn and O'Neill teamed up to find him on the blueline. He had his shot find the back of the net.
The U.S. Under-18 Team capped the scoring at 17:29 of the final frame when Matteau scored his second of the game.
Maine finished the game with a 29-22 edge in shots on goal. The Black Bears were 3-for-6 on the power play, while Team USA was 2-for-6.
Ouellette stopped five shots in 25:07 for the Black Bears. Dan Sullivan (York, Pa.) played the final 34:53 of the game. He stopped 13 of the 14 shots that he faced. Rutledge made 12 saves in 21:46 for the U.S. Under-18 Team, while Olson made 11 saves in 38:14.
Maine returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 26 when it shots Clarkson at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine.