ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team defeated Mercyhurst 4-2 on Friday night in the Alfond Arena opener. Chris Hahn (Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan) led the Maine offense with a goal and an assist, while rookie Andrew Sweetland (Bonavista, Newfoundland) chipped in with a pair of assists. The Black Bears improve to 1-2-0 on the season with the win, while Mercyhurst dips to 0-3-0.
Travis Ramsey (Lakewood, Calif.) opened the scoring for the Black Bears 17:24 into the first period with a shot from the blueline that beat Mercyhurst goalie Ryan Zapolski. Sweetland and Vince Laise (Brampton, Ontario) each assisted on the first goal of the game.
Wes Clark (Oakville, Ontario) gave Maine a 2-0 lead 8:44 into the second period. Hahn and rookie Mike Banwell (Scarborough, Ontario) assisted on the goal by Clark.
Hahn made it a 3-0 lead for the Black Bears at 11:31 of the second period with a shot from the right of Zapolski. Keif Orsini (Montreal, Quebec) and Rob Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.) each assisted on the third goal of the game for the Black Bears, which would eventually turn out to be the game-winner. After the goal, the two teams were called for a combined six penalties for 34 minutes, including two fighting majors.
The Black Bears built their lead to 4-0 with a four-on-four goal just 32 seconds after Hahn scored. Tanner House (Cochrane, Alberta) and Sweetland teamed up to find defenseman Bret Tyler (Maynard, Mass.) between the circles in front of the Mercyhurst goal. Tyler beat Zapolski for his team-leading second goal of the season.
The Lakers got on the board 8:35 into the third period when Ben Cottreau beat Maine goalie Ben Bishop (Des Peres, Mo.) Ryan Toomey and Brandon Coccimiglio each picked up an assist on the goal. Mercyhurst cut the Maine lead to just two goals less than four minutes later when Scott Pitt stuffed the puck across the goal line to the left of Bishop.
Maine goalie Ben Bishop made 23 saves in the game and improves to 1-2 on the campaign. The win was the 43rd of his career, leaving him one shy of Matt Yeats (1999–01) for sixth place on the Maine all-time wins list.
Laker goalie Zapolski stopped 45 saves in the game, including 17 shots in the third period alone. He falls to 0-2 on the season.
Maine was 0-8 on the power play, while Mercyhurst was 1-8. The Lakers were whistled for 14 penalties for 39 minute, while Maine took 13 penalties for 37 minutes.
The Black Bears and Lakers conclude their two-game series on Saturday, Oct. 20 with a 7 p.m. puck drop at Alfond Arena in Orono.