ORONO, Maine - Chris Hahn (Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan) scored a pair of goals, while Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) dished out three assists as the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team completed a weekend sweep of Niagara on Saturday night at Alfond Arena. Maine evens its record to 3-3-0 on the season with the win, while Niagara falls to 2-5-1.
The two teams battled through a scoreless first period. Niagara held a slim 8-7 advantage in shots on goal. Maine took a lead just 59 second into the second period with a power play goal. Simon Danis-Pepin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec) got the puck to Nyquist just inside the blueline. Nyquist had his shot saved by Niagara goalie Juliano Pagliero, but the rebound went right to Hahn who was to the right of the goal. Hahn was easily able to beat Pagliero.
Maine added to its lead at 6:05 of the second period. Niagara tried to clear the puck, but the clearing pass went right to Matt Duffy (Windham, Maine) on the blueline. Duffy passed to Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) on the opposite point and he had his shot find the back of the net. It was the second power play goal of the game for Maine, and first goal of the season for Dimmen.
Niagara cut the lead to 2-1 early in the third period. Tyler Gotto had an initial shot that Maine goalie Scott Darling was able to save, but Vince Rocco kept poking away at the rebound, which slid just over the goal line. Bryan Haczyk also assisted on the goal for Niagara.
Maine then killed off a lengthy 5-on-3 to keep the one goal lead. The Black Bears added an insurance goal at 9:48. Nyquist, again on the power play, found Josh Van Dyk (Woodstock, Ontario) on the blueline. Hahn was able to tip Van Dyk’s shot past Pagliero for his second goal of the game.
Maine capped the scoring at 12:50 of the third period. Nyquist gained control of the puck in the defensive zone and found Tanner House (Cochrane, Alberta) who skated in on a two-on-one odd-man rush with Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.). House passed the puck to Flynn who beat Pagliero with a shot from the left face-off circle. For Flynn, it was his first career goal. It was also the third assist of the game for Nyquist.
Maine goalie Scott Darling finished with 29 saves. He improves to 2-1-0 on the season. Pagliero made 19 saves for Niagara. He falls to 2-4-1.
Maine was an impressive 3-for-6 on the power play. The Black Bears held Niagara scoreless in six chances with the man-advantage.
Maine returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 9 when it hosts Boston College at 4 p.m. at Alfond Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Tickets remain for the game and are available by calling 207-581-BEAR or 1-800-756-TEAM.