ORONO, Maine - Behind a hat trick from Josh Nadeau, the #11 University of Maine men's hockey team topped #15/14 New Hampshire, 5-2, on Friday night at Alfond Arena.
A fourth consecutive sellout crowd of 4,053 saw the Black Bears defeat the Wildcats in the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle.
Bradly Nadeau earned the primary assist on all three of Josh Nadeau's goals for three assists while eight total Black Bears registered a point. Albin Boija earned his first career win in his first career start with an 18-save performance.
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead at 13:35 of the first period but Josh Nadeau's first goal of the evening with three seconds remaining sent the game into the break tied. Just 23 seconds into the second period, Thomas Freel found the back of the net to give Maine a 2-1 lead before Josh Nadeau struck again with 90 seconds to go in the period.
Early in the third period, Donavan Villeneuve-Houle potted his fourth of the year and then Josh Nadeau completed his hat trick two minutes later. The Wildcats got one goal back on the power-play with 2:22 to play for the 5-2 final score.
#11 Maine 5, #15/14 New Hampshire 2
Dec. 1, 2023 | Orono, Maine
Alfond Arena
NOTABLES
- Maine had the 32-20 lead in shots on goal.
- The Black Bears went 3-for-7 on the advantage while the Wildcats were
- Albin Boija made 18 saves in his first career start for his first career win ... Boija is now 1-0-0 on the year.
- Maine is now 71-62-13 in the all-time series against UNH, including a mark of 42-17-7 at Alfond Arena and 2-1-2 under head coach Ben Barr.
- Josh Nadeau scored three goals for his first career hat trick ... it was his sixth multi-point game of the year ... his goal marked his first career game-winning goal.
- Josh Nadeau's hat trick marks the first for a Black Bear since Brendan Robbins on Feb. 2, 2018.
- Bradly Nadeau recorded three assists for his fourth multi-point game of the year.
- Thomas Freel scored his third goal of the season to set a new career-high.
- With an assist, Brandon Chabrier has set a new career-high in points with five (2-3-5).
RECORDS
Maine: 7-3-1, 4-2-1 Hockey East
New Hampshire: 7-4-1, 4-2-1 Hockey East
UP NEXT
Maine will host UConn at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3.
