DURHAM, N.H. -Four different players found the back of the net for the Black Bears as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team fell to Maine, 5-3, in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,501 on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center. The Wildcats are now to 10-9-8 overall (6-6-5 HEA), while the Black Bears improve to 10-13-3 (6-7-3 HEA).
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will return to action when they head to Burlington, Vt. to play the Vermont Catamounts at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9 at 7 p.m.
NEXT HOME GAMES: The Wildcats will host Northeastern for two games at the Whittemore Center on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23 at 7 p.m. The game on Friday is on NESNPLUS, while the contest on Saturday is on NESN. Hot dogs will be $1 dollar both nights. Friday is 80s Night and the fifth trading card set will be given away to the first 1,000 fans. Saturday is Star Wars Night as blue light sabers will be given away to the first 500 fans. Star Wars Troopers will be in attendance for photos. You can buy tickets by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at (603) 862-4000 or by visiting UNHWildcats.com.
Score: Maine 5, New Hampshire 3
Records: New Hampshire (10-9-8, 6-6-5 HEA), Maine (10-13-3, 6-7-3 HEA)
Location: Durham, N.H. (Whittemore Center)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Attendance: 6,501
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Black Bears opened up the scoring at 11:15 after Tim Doherty passed the puck from behind the net to Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup, who found Doherty again in front of the net to finish with a blast past the glove side.
- Just 52 seconds later, Maine increased its lead to 2-0 on the power play when Mitchell Fossier finished a rebound after a shot from Brady Keeper at the top of the face-off circle caused a loose puck in front of the crease.
- UNH cut the lead in half at 16:02 of the first period when senior Frankie Cefalu (Buffalo, N.Y.) deflected the puck into the upper glove side of the net off of a one-timer from sophomore Benton Maass (Elk River, Minn.) at the blue line.
- Only 17 seconds later the Wildcats tied the score at 2-2 when senior Ara Nazarian (Boxford, Mass.) slammed the puck past the stick side of the net from the bottom of the face-off circle after a slap shot from senior Richard Boyd (Delray Beach, Fla.) caused an opportunistic rebound.
- After the first period, the Wildcats outshot the Black Bears 13-11. Sophomore Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) posted nine saves while Jeremy Swayman recorded 11.
- At 18:45 of the second period the Black Bears took the lead with their second power play goal of the game as Alexis Binner completed a cross-ice pass to Brady Keeper, who drilled a slap shot into the upper stick side from the top of the face-off circle.
- During the second period the Wildcats outshot the Black Bears 13-7. UNH made six saves and went 0-2 on the power play while Maine tallied 13 saves and went 1-1 with a man-advantage.
- At 2:50 of the third period Maine scored its fourth goal of the game after Chase Pearson deflected a pass from Fossier off of his skate into the lower stick side of the net from in front of the crease.
- With 1:49 left in the game, sophomore Max Gildon (Plano, Texas) put the Wildcats within one goal when he buried a wrist shot into the upper glove side after receiving a pass off the face-off from senior Marcus Vela (Burnaby, British Columbia).
- Sixty-one seconds later, Fossier scored an empty-netter for the Black Bears to make the final score 5-3.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Robinson made 22 saves while Swayman posted 41.
- UNH outshot Maine by a 44-27 margin.
- The Wildcats went 0-2 on the power play and the Black Bears went 2-2.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- These two teams concluded their three regular season match-ups 1-1-1.
- Cefalu's goal in tonight's game was his first of the season and the fourth of his career.
- With his goal tonight, Nazarian has increased his point streak to five games. He has tallied three goals and five assists for eight points during this stretch.
- Nazarian now has a career-best 12 goals.
- Vela posted two assists on the night. This is his eighth career multi-point game.
