ORONO, Me. - Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) and Ben Hutton (Prescott, Ontario) each scored a pair of goals, while Martin Ouellette (St.-Hippolyte, Quebec) held the nation's top-ranked offense to just one goal as the University of Maine men's ice hockey team defeated #7 Boston College 5-1 on Saturday night at Alfond Arena in front of a sellout crowd of 5,125. Maine improves to 6-4-1 on the season and 3-2-1 in Hockey East play, while Boston College falls to 8-3-2 overall, 4-1-1 in conference play.
Maine struck just 37 seconds in to the game when Shore beat Boston College goalie Brian Billett. Connor Leen (Chester, N.Y.) and Steven Swavely (Reading, Pa.) both assisted on the goal, which gave the Black Bears the early lead.
Maine added to its lead less than four minutes later with what turned out to be the game-winning goal. Hutton and Josh Henke (Trenton, Mich.) had a give-and-go with Hutton firing the puck between Billett's glove and the goal post for his fifth goal of the season. Mark Anthoine (Lewiston, Maine) also assisted on the goal.
With Ouellette on the bench in favor of an extra attacker after a BC player had committed a penalty, Jon Swavely (Reading, Pa.) had a shot that Billett stopped. Ryan Lomberg (Richmond Hill, Ontario) got a stick on the rebound and found the back of the net for his second goal of the season. Bill Norman (Stockholm, Sweden) also assisted on the goal.
The Eagles answered back at 17:27 of the first period when Scott Savage received a pass from Johnny Gaudreau and wristed a shot past Ouellette from between the face-off circles. For Savage, it was his second goal of the season. Ian McCoshen also assisted on the goal for Boston College.
Maine added to its lead midway through the second period. Steven Swavely had a shot that Billett saved, but was unable to control of. Shore was in perfect position to fire the puck into the open net for his third goal of the season.
Hutton capped the scoring for the Black Bears at 16:26 of the third period when his shot from just inside the blueline eluded traffic in front of the net and beat BC goalie Brad Barone, who has replaced Billett to start the third period. For Hutton, it was his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
BC finished the game with a 34-29 edge in shots on goal. The Black Bears were 0-for-5 on the power play, while BC was scoreless in three opportunities. It was just the second time this season that BC's offense was limited to just one goal.
Ouellette turned in another outstanding performance, as he made 33 saves. He improves to 6-4-1 on the season. Billett made 17 saves in 40 minutes, while Barone stopped seven shots in the final 20 minutes.
Maine returns to action when it travels to Vermont for a non-conference series with the Catamounts on Nov. 29 and 30.