ORONO, Maine. --- The University of Maine men's ice hockey defeated North Dakota 4-2 on Saturday night to sweep the weekend series over the second ranked team in the nation. Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) tallied the game-winning goal for the Black Bears just 54 seconds into the third period. The Black Bears, playing in front of 5,361 fans, the largest crowd since Jan. 25, 2008 against Boston College, improve to 3-1-2 on the season. North Dakota falls to 3-2-1.
The two teams played scoreless hockey in the first period. The Fighting Sioux held a 10-6 edge in shots. Maine came out firing in the second period, but it was North Dakota who would strike first. Ben Blood scored his first goal of the season from Matt Frattin and Evan Trupp at 13:25.
Maine evened the score at 16:04. Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) had a shot that UND goalie Aaron Dell saved, but the rebound went right to Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) who fired the puck into the upper right corner of the goal. For Nyquist, it was his second goal of the season.
Maine took the lead just over two minutes later. Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) was able to stuff the puck past Dell from the right goal post on a flurry in front of the net. Dee and Josh Van Dky (Woodstock, Ontario) also assisted on the goal.
Flynn tallied the eventual game-winner 54 seconds into the third period. He received a pass from Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and rifled the puck past Dell. It was the fourth goal of the season for Flynn and third of the weekend. Tanner House (Cochrane, Alberta) also assisted on the goal.
Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ontario) scored a power play goal at 6:39 of the third to extend Maine's lead to 4-1. Will O'Neill (Salem, Mass.) and Nyquist each assisted on the goal.
The Fighting Sioux tallied a short-handed goal at 8:11 of the third period to make it a 4-2 final. Maine held a 35-25 edge in shots on goal in the game. The Black Bears were 2-for-9 on the power play, while holding North Dakota scoreless in four chances.
Maine rookie goalie Dan Sullivan (York, Pa.) was outstanding, making 23 saves, including several brilliant stops. He picks up his first collegiate win and moves to 1-1-0 on the season. Dell made 31 saves for the Fighting Sioux.
The Black Bears swing back into Hockey East Conference play next weekend when they travel to Vermont to face the Catamounts on Saturday, Oct. 30. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM.