Lewiston, ME - The Central Maine Mustangs were defeated Wednesday evening by a determined Bates Bobcat's team in Lewiston. The 8-7 loss is the second defeat in a row for the Mustangs, who fell to NEC over the weekend.
Bates put-up the first goal by Upton from Dewney at 17:32 of the first period. Mustang's Sederick Simons answered with his second goal of the game on a laser wrist shot from the slot on a pass from Evan Sullivan and Matthew Henderson at 13:24. Thirty seconds later Evan Sullivan tallied on a helper from Matthew Henderson. At 2:52 Sullivan tucked his second goal of the game unassisted. The first period ended with a Bobcat goal by Dewney, who had a strong game for the Bobcat's, from Moreland and White at 2:29.
The Mustang's continued their signature scoring touch to open the second period when Cameron Burpee found the back of the net on a pass from Jordy Knoren and Rob Berube. Burpee crashed the net from the right wing side after finding the puck on his stick.
"Jordy has a knack of finding guys at the right place at the right time. This one was perfectly placed and all I needed to do was direct it in the net" said Burpee after the game.
The second period was even with Mustang's Simons putting up another goal followed by Bobcat Dewney's second of the game. Cade Chapman tallied late in the period to give Central Maine the lead at the end of two 6-3.
The third period was dominated by the Bates Bobcats. Bates tallied four unanswered goals before Berube found the back of the net to tie the score 7-7 with thirty seconds left in the period. Looking like the game would see overtime Bates Bobcat, Rudkin, put the puck past CM goaltender Kenny Miller on a pass from White with seven seconds left in the game ending any chances Central Maine would gather their 10th win of the season.
Central Maine head coach Kevin Cady summed it up by saying "We can put the puck in the net on a consistent basis. I am not concerned about goals for. The past couple games we have been very lax in the defensive zone. Guys are tentative in the defensive zone and not playing basic hockey defensive tactics. Sometimes we need to reiterate that the game of hockey is simple. But we need to do the simple things well to win. That is why we lost tonight."
The Mustang's move to 9-5 and are back in ACHA action Saturday January 28th at 1:50 pm vs Harvard at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
