Hanover, NH - The Central Maine Mustangs hockey team picked up its first win of the season against an explosive Dartmouth College team. The Mustangs came out firing on all cylinders taking an early 4-0 lead in the 1st period with two goals a piece from Patrick Pearson (N. Haven, CT) and Zachary Savage.
Dartmouth scored a couple power play goals late in the 1st period to make it a 4-2 game after one period of play. After a relatively quiet 2nd period, the 3rd period brought plenty of action. Dartmouth came out early in the 3rd period and scored three goals in the first 11-minutes to take a 5-4 lead. After a Mustangs timeout, the team responded immediately with the tying goal by Charles Campagna to make it a 5-5 game.
After battling to the end of regulation, the game went to a five minute, 4-on-4 overtime period. The Mustangs got the overtime winner by Isaiah Dubois with 32-seconds remaining in the extra period to seal the first win of the season. CM goalie, Kenny Miller, stood on his head all game, finishing with an incredible 67 saves on 72 shots on goal.
According to Men's Ice Hockey Coach, Matt Poulin, "I was extremely pleased with the intensity and explosiveness that we came out with. We made our defensive zone coverage and forecheck focal points at practice this week and the guys came out and executed right away. After our first game, the coaching staff made it a priority to promote how we were going to respond to that game. Dartmouth came out in the third and scored three quick goals on us and I think it took a strong wind from under us. I felt the timeout would help us calm down, regroup, and catch our breath for a minute. Fortunately, the team showed how to respond and came out and scored that one right after, which I felt was huge for the remainder of regulation and overtime. The team woke right back up after that and I saw a compete level I have not seen yet this season. We were hit with a lot of adversity in our game against St. Anselm, so I was very pleased with our response tonight against a fast team like Dartmouth. Kenny was unbelievable for us in net and it goes to show what he is capable of for us between the pipes. At the end of the day, we have to do a better job of protecting our net and limiting shots but having Kenny in net for us gives the guys confidence to play their game. Plain and simple, Kenny was stellar tonight and we owe him a huge amount of appreciation."
Coach Poulin picked up his first career collegiate ACHA win in the game. The CM Mustangs next game is their home opener Wednesday, October 18 at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn, Maine vs. UMaine-Orono Club. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.
