ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine men's ice hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie with UMass on Friday night at Alfond Arena. The Black Bears got first period goals by Mark Nemec (Rouses Point, NY.) and Jake Rutt (Scarborough, Maine), but the Minutemen scored with an extra attacker at 18:52 of the third period to salvage the tie.
The Black Bears jumped out to 1-0 lead at 7:39 of the first period. Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) won the draw back to Nemec. He unleashed a shot from the top of the faceoff circles that beat UMass goalie Kevin Boyle. For Nemec, it was his second goal of the season. Maine added to its lead less than two minutes later when Rutt notched his first collegiate goal. Kyle Beattie (Avondale, Ariz.) got the puck to Ben Hutton (Prescott, Ontario) on the power play. Hutton found Rutt just inside the blueline and he beat Boyle.
UMass pulled to within one goal at 14:54 of the second period with a power play goal by Steven Guzzo. Troy Power and Colin Shea each assisted on the goal.
Conor Allen got what turned out to be the game-tying goal at 18:52 of regulation. Rocco Carzo had the puck behind the net and passed it to the slot. With the extra attacker, Allen was able to gain control of the puck and beat Maine goalie Martin Ouellette (St-Hippolyte, Quebec). Conor Sheary also assisted on the play.
Neither team was able to score during the five minute overtime period.
UMass outshot Maine 32-29 in the game. The Black Bears were 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Minutemen finished 1-for-3 with the man-advantage.
Ouellette stopped 30 shots in goal for the Black Bears. He moves to 1-3-1 on the season. Boyle made 27 saves in goal for UMass and improves to 3-2-1.
Maine moves to 2-9-1 on the season and 1-5-1 in Hockey East play. UMass sees its record go to 3-4-1 overall, 2-4-1 in conference play.
Maine returns to action on Friday, Nov. 30 when it hosts Vermont at 8 PM at Alfond Arena. Tickets are available by calling the Maine ticket office at 207-581-BEAR, 1-800-756-TEAM or online at www.GoBlackBearstickets.com(.) Massachusetts returns to action on Sunday afternoon when it hosts UMass Lowell.