ORONO, Maine — Senior left wing Taylor Makar’s goal against his former team with 8:17 left in the second period proved to be the game winner as the University of Maine hockey team edged UMass 3-2 in a physical Hockey East game at the Alfond Arena on Sunday.
UMaine sophomore goalie Albin Boija preserved the win with a great glove save off sophomore center Dans Locmelis with 28.6 seconds left after the Minutemen had pulled goalie Michael Hrabal in favor of the extra attacker.
A deflected shot from the point landed on the stick of Locmelis at the bottom of the right faceoff circle and he ripped it to the short side only to have Boija reach out and snare it for what veteran UMass head coach Greg Carvel called the best college hockey save he has ever seen.
“All of a sudden it pops onto this guy’s stick and somehow I got my glove there,” Boija said. “I don’t know how.”
Boija finished with 24 saves and UMass sophomore Hrabal wound up with 28. Sixth-ranked UMaine improved to 17-5-3 overall and 9-3-3 in Hockey East, while 20th-ranked UMass, which had won its previous four games, fell to 14-11-2 and 5-8-2.
Junior center Kenny Connors opened the scoring for UMass at the 8:25 mark of the first period, but Holt tied it in the last minute of the period.
Sophomore right wing Josh Nadeau gave UMaine a 2-1 lead early in the second period before junior right wing Cole O’Hara equalized less than a minute later.
Holt assisted on Makar’s game winner. He wristed the puck toward the net, where it hit UMaine freshman right wing Oskar Komarov’s stick at the post to the right of UMass goalie Michael Hrabal and trickled across to the top of the crease. Makar flipped it home.
“Luckily, I was in the right spot at the right time and I banked that in. I put it right over his pad,” said Makar. “It felt good.”
Makar said it was nice to score against his former team. He spent three seasons in Amherst. It was Makar’s 10th goal of the season and extended his goal-scoring streak to three games. He has four goals in his last three games.
The Black Bears came out fast, keeping the Minutemen pinned in their own zone and generating the first seven shots on goal. But it was the Minutemen who lit the goal lamp first.
Ryan Lautenbach received the puck from Larry Keenan behind the net and threaded the needle with a perfect backhanded pass to Connors in the middle of the slot and Connors’ one-timer slipped between Boija’s pads. It was Connor’s sixth goal of the season.
Holt tied it with 36 seconds left in the period. Frank Djurasevic had the puck along the right wing side and passed the puck to Holt at the midpoint. Holt’s wrist shot went through a maze of bodies past Hrabal.
It was Holt’s third goal of the year. That continued a trend for UMaine, which entered the game having scored 36 percent of its goals in the first two minutes and last two minutes of a period.
Nadeau gave UMaine its first lead of the game in a four-on-four situation. Harrison Scott hustled to keep the puck in the offensive zone and David Breazeale gathered it in on the left wing side, creating a two-on-one with Nadeau. He passed the puck across to Nadeau, who deposited it into a gaping net for his sixth goal.
O’Hara tied it just 56 seconds later when a terrible UMaine line change enabled the Minutemen to generate a three-on-one.
Lucas Mercuri had the puck in the middle of the slot and dished the puck to O’Hara at the bottom of the left circle and he flipped the puck off a Maine defenseman’s stick past Boija for his team-leading 15th goal. But Makar’s goal and Boija’s last-minute save clinched the win.
“It was a really good game,” said UMaine head coach Ben Barr. “We had a really good first period and [UMass] got better like we knew they would. It came down to that save at the end. It was unbelievable.
UMaine will travel to Providence for games on Friday and Saturday nights at 7 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. UMass will play UConn on Friday at 4 p.m.
