ORONO, Maine -- Matt Nieto scored with just 3.8 seconds remaining in overtime as Boston University defeated Maine 5-4 in men's ice hockey action on Saturday night at Alfond Arena. The Black Bears, who trailed 4-1 early in the third period, scored three third period goals, including one by Steven Swavely (Reading, Pa.) with just 39 seconds left in regulation, to force overtime.
Maine opened the scoring at 17:10 of the first period with a power play goal by Ryan Lomberg (Richmond Hill, Ontario). Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.), who had the initial shot, and Jake Rutt (Scarborough, Maine), each assisted on the goal.
Boston University tied the game at 11:50 of the second period with a power play goal of its own. Anti Oksanen and Ryan Santana teamed up to find Danny O'Regan, who tallied his first goal of the night. Cason Hohmann gave BU its first lead at 15:38 of the second period.
Hohmann then tipped the puck to Matt Grzelcyk, who skated nearly the length of the ice, before firing a shot past Maine goalie Martin Ouellette (St.-Hippolyte, Quebec) at 19:09 of the second period to extend the BU lead to 3-1.
O'Regan added a power play goal at 1:03 of the third period as the Terriers pushed their cushion to 4-1. Oksanen and Santana each assisted on the play.
Maine cut into the lead at 3:59 of the third period. Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) had a shot that Ben Hutton (Prescott, Ontario) deflected in from to Diamond. Diamond was able to beat BU goalie Sean Maguire for his 12th goal of the season. It was the 99th point of his career.
Maine pulled to within one goal with a shorthanded tally at 8:35. Conor Riley (Massena, N.Y.) carried the puck up the ice and had the initial shot on goal. Maguire made the save, but the puck fell in the crease. Shore was there and quickly tapped it into the goal.
With Ouellette pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Swavely tipped a Rutt shot past Maguire at 19:21 to knot the score at 4-4 and force overtime. The goal was the third of the weekend for Steven Swavely. Shore also assisted on the goal for the Black Bears to finish the game with three points.
The game looked like it would end in a 4-4 tie. Late in overtime, the puck took an awkward bounce and created a two-on-none breakaway for the Terriers. Nieto was able to shoot the puck past Ouellette for the game-winning goal. For Nieto, it was his ninth goal of the season.
Maine outshot BU 44-34 in the game. The Black Bears finished 1-for-5 on the power play, while BU scored a pair of goals in six chances.
Maine's Ouellette made 29 saves in goal. He falls to 6-9-6 on the season. Maguire made 40 saves for Boston University and improves to 7-5-0.
Maine falls to 8-16-6 on the season and 4-11-6 in Hockey East play. Boston University improves to 14-12-2 overall, 11-7-2 in conference play.
Maine returns to action on Friday, Feb. 22 when it travels to UMass for a huge Hockey East weekend series.