ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine men's ice hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie with UConn on Saturday night at Alfond Arena. The Black Bears scored a pair of short-handed goals in the and peppered Husky goalie Garrett Bartus with 43 shots. Maine moves to 1-0-1 on the season with the tie, while UConn sees it record go to 0-0-1.
The Huskies kicked off the scoring with a power play goal 3:02 into the first period. Cole Schneider gathered the puck in the right corner of the Maine zone. Schneider slid a pass through the middle, finding Miles Winter, who wristed a shot into the back of the Maine net to give UConn an early 1-0 lead.
The Black Bears would get on the scoreboard to start the second period with a pair of shorthanded goals in the first 1:58 of the period. Maine's first goal was started when Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) stole the puck at center ice and skated in on UConn goaltender Garrett Bartus. Nyquist fired a shot that was blocked by Bartus but Tanner House (Cochrane, Alberta) was in perfect position to pick up the loose puck and plant it into the back of the net.
Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) would pick up Maine's second shorthanded goal just over a minute later. Flynn received a pass from Matt Mangene (Manorville, N.Y.) and slapped a quick shot by Bartus, giving Maine a 2-1 edge. Will O'Neill (Salem, Mass.) also assisted on the goal by the Black Bears.
UConn would tie things up when it capitalized on a power play at 18:48 of the second period. Winter sent a pass from the left circle through the middle of the Maine zone to Alex Gerke. Gerke wasted no time, one-timing the puck into the Maine net to tie things up heading into the third period.
Maine would regain the lead 2:07 into the third period when Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ontario) notched his second goal of the season. Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) setup the play for Maine as he passed the puck to Josh Van Dyk (Woodstock, Ontario). Van Dyk found Abbott in the top of the left circle and hit him with a pass as Abbott was able to send a soaring wrist shot into the back of the Husky net to give Maine a 3-2 lead.
Sean Ambrosie tied things up once again for UConn when he fired a shot that snuck by Maine goaltender Martin Ouellette (St.-Hippolyte, Quebec). Marcello Ranallo and Stevie Bergin assisted on the goal for the Huskies.
Ambrosie's goal would send things into overtime. Despite starting the extra frame on the power play and outshooting UConn 4-1 in the extra period, the game would end in a 3-3 tie.
Ouellette picks up the tie in his first game as a Black Bear after making 16 stops. Bartus made 40 saves for the Huskies as his record moves to 0-0-1.
Maine skates back into action on Thursday, Oct. 14 when it travels to take on Michigan St. for a two game series.