Biddeford, ME. - The University of New England men's club hockey team exploded to an early lead on the visiting Central Maine Community College Mustangs on Sunday morning, jumping out of the gates to a 5-0 before eventually holding on to an 8-4 victory.
A sleepy start would be the undoing of the visiting Mustangs, UNE forward Dylan Porior potting a hat trick in a 10:04 span to blow the game open early. Poiror scored twice on the same shift--at the 3:08 mark and again just :24 later--before completing his hat trick with a shorthanded tally with 6:48 to play in the first. Trevor Roche would pull one back late in the first to send the teams to the dressing rooms with a 5-1 score in favor of the hosts.
Jordy Knoren would add his 5th goal of the season :53 into the second period to pull Central Maine to within three, but the Nor'easters would answer just 1:52 later. The teams ended the second period with UNE ahead by a 6-2 count.
Knoren would bury another just over four minutes into the third--this time on the power play--to cut the deficit to 6-3. However the Mustangs power play would sputter for most of the evening, going 2-for-13 on the day including a goalless five minute advantage in the third period.
"Our power play was the difference tonight, other than the terrible start," said Mustangs head coach Matt Buotte. "We need to learn from this. We need to play a 60 minute game. It's disappointing to end the weekend with a loss like this."
The two teams will square off again on January 25th when the Nor'easters make the trip to Auburn. The season series is now even at a game a piece after Central Maine took the first contest by a 6-4 count.