ORONO, Maine-- The University of Maine men's ice hockey team saw its three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night when it fell to Mercyhurst 5-2 at Alfond Arena. Connor Leen (Chester, N.Y.) scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season in the game.
Maine jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at 5:06 of the first period. Brice O'Connor (Londonderry, N.H.) passed to Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) on the goal line. He had a shot that Mercyhurst goalie Max Strang saved, but the rebound when to Leen who deposited the puck into the net.
Paul Chiasson tied the game for Mercyhurst when he banked the puck off of Maine goalie Matt Morris (Ridgewood, N.J.), who got the start for the Black Bears, at 19:46 of the opening frame.
Daniel O'Donoghue put the Lakers ahead 2-1 at 16:20 of the second period with his fourth goal of the season.
Maine tied the game at 4:21 of the third period with a power play goal. Mike Cornell (Franklin, Mass.) had a shot from the blueline that Leen redirected in the crease. Leen and Kyle Beattie (Avondale, Ariz.) then both swung at the loose puck and it went off of Beattie's stick and past Strang to knot the score at 2-2.
Chris Bodo scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal at 10:39 of the third period from Matthew Zay and O'Donoghue on the power play.
O'Donoghue added a pair of empty net goals to make it a 5-2 final.
Maine outshot Mercyhurst 45-33 in the game. The Black Bears finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while Mercyhurst was 1-for-3.
Morris made 28 saves in goal for the Black Bears and falls to 2-1-0 on the season. Strang made 43 saves for Mercyhurst and improves to 6-3-0.
Maine falls to 5-12-2 on the season, while Mercyhurst improves to 9-7-1.
The Black Bears return to action on Friday, Jan. 11 when they travel to Northeastern for a 7 PM game.