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Junior goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves for the Black Bears
Swayman Backstops Maine To 3-1 Win Over New Hampshire
Junior goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves for the Black Bears

Orono, Maine - After falling behind 1-0, the University of Maine men's ice hockey rallied for three unanswered goals to defeat New Hampshire, 3-1, on Friday evening in front of 4,787.

Eduards Tralmaks registered the game-winner with Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup and AJ Drobot adding goals in the Maine victory. Adrien Bisson added a pair of assists for the Black Bears who improved to 6-3-2 overall, 3-2-2 in Hockey East action.

Jeremy Swayman turned away 30 shots while playing a big part in New Hampshire's 0-for-5 night on the power play. Maine cashed in on one of its three extra attacker chances while New Hampshire held the overall edge in shots, 31-27.

New Hampshire struck first, 7:27 into the first period. Just seven seconds after the Black Bears were able to kill off their first penalty of the contest, Kohei Sato received the puck low in the left faceoff circle. Sato, who was fed from behind the Maine net by Liam Blackburn, snapped a wrister for the game's opening goal.

Despite taking a penalty midway through the second period, the Black Bears began to gain momentum with shorthanded chances from Mitch Fossier and Emil Westerlund. Seconds after killing off the penalty, Ryan Smith gathered the puck directly out of the box before sliding it across to Schmidt-Svejstrup who had another great opportunity but his shot was saved.

The momentum was back in the Black Bears' control.

Maine was able to even it up, 15:23 into the period. Bisson found Drobot at center ice. Drobot sent the puck in on the New Hampshire goaltender Mike Robinson, who mishandled it as the puck snuck through for Drobot's first career goal.

The Black Bears took the lead with only 21-seconds remaining in the second. Fossier received a pass from Bisson in the bottom of the right faceoff dot. Fossier whipped a pass through the slot to Tralmaks who one-timed a shot up and over the New Hampshire netminder, sending Maine into the second intermission with a 2-1 edge.

Working the man advantage early in the third, Ben Poisson dug the puck from behind the New Hampshire net and sent it along the boards to Jakub Sirota. Sirota settled on the blue line before angling a pass down to Schmidt-Svejstrup who rifled his seventh goal of the year into the back of the net, extending Maine's lead to 3-1.

Maine held strong over the final 16-minutes, including shutting the Wildcats down for almost three minutes with the extra skater, to secure the 3-1 victory.

The two rivals meet again on Saturday evening with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.

Game Summary

Friday, November 15, 2019

1
3
Game statistics
31 Shots 27
0 / 5 Power Plays 1 / 2
4 / 8 PIM 6 / 12
5-3-1 Records 6-3-2
GOAL SCORERS
New Hampshire Maine
Kohei Sato (5)
1st/7:27
AJ Drobot (1)
2nd/15:23
Eduards Tralmaks (7)
2nd/19:39  GW
Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup (7)
3rd/3:25 PP
GOALTENDERS
New Hampshire Maine
Mike Robinson
57:01, 24 Saves, 3 GA
(L, 3-3-1)

Empty Net
2:59, 0 GA
Jeremy Swayman
60:00, 30 Saves, 1 GA
(W, 6-3-2)