ORONO, Maine — The University of Connecticut has had a lot of success against the University of Maine in recent years and it continued again on Friday night.
Sophomore right wing Joey Muldowney had a hat trick and the 17th-rankled Huskies earned their seventh win in the last nine meetings with a victory over the Black Bears at Alfond Arena on Friday night.
UMaine came into the game ranked fifth in one poll and sixth in the other.
Muldowney staked the Huskies to 1-0 and 2-1 leads with UMaine’s Charlie Russell and Nolan Renwick answering.
But Muldowney scored the game-winner with 8:18 remaining in the game as he was set up all alone in the middle of the slot by Hudson Schandor and snapped a one-timer past UMaine goalie Albin Boija.
UConn outplayed Maine for large portions of the game and improved to 12-8-1 and 7-6-1 in Hockey East. UMaine fell to 15-5-2 and 7-3-2.
The teams will play Saturday at 7 p.m.
Muldowney opened the scoring on the power play eight minutes into the game.
John Spetz partially fanned on a shot from the left point but the puck stayed in front of him and he slid a pass to Muldowney on the inner half of the left circle.
Muldowney wristed the puck through the pads of Boija from 25 feet out.
UConn had a decided edge in play but the Black Bears were able to tie it off one of their few good chances of the period.
Owen Fowler’s shot deflected to Sully Scholle in the right faceoff circle.
Scholle flipped a backhander toward the net and it hit Russell’s body and stick and glanced into the short side corner.
It was Russell’s fifth goal of the season and snapped an eight-game goalless drought.
Muldowney regained the lead just 1:10 into the second period off a two-on-one as he carried the puck down the left wing and fired the puck past Boija.
Renwick tied it seconds into the period with a rink-length rush and wrister off the left post and in behind UConn goalie Tyler Muszelik.
