KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) tipped in a Ben Hutton (Prescott, Ontario) shot from the blueline midway through the third period to give the University of Maine men's ice hockey team a 4-3 win over Army on Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the 2012 Ice Breaker Tournament.
Army took a 1-0 lead at 5:41 of the opening period. Andy Starczewski had a shot on the rush that Maine goalie Matt Morris (Ridgewood, N.J.) stopped, but the rebound went to Thane Heller trailing the play. Heller fired the puck past Morris, giving the Black Knights the early lead.
Army extended its lead just 2:31 into the second period when Luke Jenkins netted his first goal of the season from Zak Zaremba.
Maine responded with three goals in 2:27 in the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Mark Anthoine (Lewiston, Maine) began the barrage when Army goalie Rob Tadazak stopped his initial shot, but he followed up and deposited the puck into the goal at 11:24.
Will Merchant (Eagan, Minn.) then made a nice individual play to get the puck on net. Again, the initial shot was stopped, but Klas Leidermark (Gavle, Sweden) followed up to score his first goal of the season. Connor Leen (Chester, N.Y.) picked up the assist as well.
Maine capped the run when Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) made an impressive move to get the initial shot. Stu Higgins (Troy, Mich.) gave the Black Bears their first lead of the game when he finished the play at 13:51. Senior Joey Diamond also assisted on the goal.
Diamond scored the game-winning goal at 9:56 of the third period. Higgins also picked up an assist to record his first career two-point game.
Maine finished the game with a commanding 54-24 edge in shots on goal. Jon Swavely (Reading, Pa.) and Anthoine each recorded six shots apiece. Maine finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while Army was scoreless in its lone chance.
Maine goalie Matt Morris recorded 21 saves in his collegiate debut. He improves to 1-0-0. Rob Tadazak made 50 saves for the Black Knights and falls to 0-1-0.
Maine improves to 1-2-0 on the season, while Army falls to 0-2-0.
The Black Bears return to action on Friday, Oct. 19 when it hosts St. Lawrence at 7 PM at Alfond Arena.