The University of Maine men’s hockey team weathered a slow start and battled back to beat UMass-Lowell 5-4 in overtime at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Wednesday night.
UMaine senior forward Owen Fowler, who arrived in Orono last season as a transfer from UMass-Lowell, scored the game winner against his old team to get the Black Bears a much-needed win.
It capped a wild back-and-forth game that saw the visitors jump out to an early lead only for the two teams to trade goals throughout the night.
UMass-Lowell quickly capitalized on an odd-man rush Wednesday night, as senior Dillan Bentley beat freshman UMaine goalie Mathis Rousseau for the first goal of the game with just over four minutes gone in the first period.
And it almost got worse for the Black Bears fast.
Freshman defenseman Shipley hit the post not long after for UMass-Lowell, and the Black Bears just barely escaped a two-goal deficit early not once, but twice. That’s because the River Hawks soon put the puck off the post again. Maine just barely avoided disaster once more.
That continued to be a theme. The Black Bears needed a fantastic save from Rousseau to deny Connor Eddy on a breakaway chance just after 8 minutes into the contest. That once again preserved the one-goal game.
Just as it seemed the night was going to get away from the Black Bears, a UMass-Lowell penalty provided UMaine a much-needed opportunity. And junior forward Josh Nadeau wasted little time by scoring four seconds into the power play for his 10th goal of the season.
After assisting on Nadeau’s goal, freshman Justin Poirier added one of his own by cutting to the net with the puck and backhanding it past visiting goalie Austin Elliott, who is also a freshman. That put the Black Bears up 2-1 and was Poirier’s 12th goal of the season, which leads the UMaine team.
But the River Hawks were quick to rebound and used a second-chance goal from sophomore forward Libor Nemec to tie the game again at 2-2.
A bad bounce dealt the Black Bears another one-goal deficit. UMass-Lowell freshman forward David Adaszynski hit the post, and then the puck ricocheted off Rousseau’s back and into the net to put the River Hawks up 3-2 in the opening minutes of the second period.
Poirier came up big for UMaine again by netting his second goal of the game in spectacular fashion. The freshman sent home a one-time screamer on a power play to tie things at three goals a piece later in the second period.
The teams headed into the third period locked at 3-3.
Bentley quickly scored his second goal of the game not even 30 seconds into the third period on a power play for the visitors. That put the River Hawks back up 4-3.
UMaine Junior forward Charlie Russell drew a penalty while the Black Bears were working to kill one off, earning four-on-four action. Then another penalty on the River Hawks gave UMaine a 5-3 opportunity with just over seven minutes to play.
After it became a 5-4 advantage for the Black Bears, alternate captain Frank Djurasevic picked the right time for his first goal of the season, slotting home a one-timer on the powerplay to tie the game at 4-4 in the last six minutes of the third period.
That was the score heading into overtime, when Fowler provided the late-game heroics against his former team. He was assisted on the game-winner by freshman defenseman Lukas Peterson and Russell.
UMaine had lost four of its last five games heading into Wednesday night’s contest. This was one of two home-away-from-home games at the Portland arena this season for UMaine,
Perhaps the change of scenery helped the Black Bears get back in the win column after getting swept at home at the Alfond Arena in Orono over the weekend by the University of New Hampshire Wildcats.
The Black Bears go to 9-7-1 on the season, and the River Hawks are now 6-11.
