Biddeford, ME - Dylan Demers scored his first three collegiate goals and Jacob Strout turned aside 39 shots as the Central Maine Community College hockey club picked up it's first victory of the young 2019-20 season with a heart-stopping 5-4 victory at the University of New England on Saturday night.

Demers opened the scoring midway through the first period on a shorthanded 2-on-1 to give the Mustangs their first lead of the season. Tanner Garand would add his first collegiate goal a few minutes later, jamming a loose puck past a sprawling Nor'Easters defense to extend the visitors lead to 2-0. The lead would hold through one period of play, with Central Maine holding a 12-11 shots on goal advantage.

With Trevor Eliasen serving a Jacob Strout tripping minor the Nor'Easters would cut the lead in half on a power play tally early in the middle frame on a seeing eye shot from the top of the right circle to halve the Central Maine advantage.

Not to be deterred, the Mustangs immediately responded. Demers, a Biddeford native playing in his hometown for the first time in his college career, would continue his spectacular night by reestablishing the Mustangs two goal edge on a perfectly placed wrist shot from the high slot on the power play. Then, just moments later, he would finish his hat trick by slipping a wrist shot five-hole on a 2-on-2 rush to extend the Central Maine lead to 4-1.

The Mustangs would cap off a fantastic second period when Austin Taylor scored for the third straight night, finishing a Sean Coleman opportunity in transition to give the visitors a 5-1 lead heading into the second period.

"Through two periods, our game plan went extremely well," said Mustangs head coach Matt Buotte. "We got in hard on the forecheck and created some havoc and did a good job of getting pucks out into the neutral zone and using our speed. The second period tonight was as good as we've played so far this year."

The Mustangs would take a four goal cushion into the third period and would end up needing every last bit of it. The Nor'Easters would not go quietly, cutting the lead to 5-2 on a 2-on-1 rush after a bad pinch at the offensive blue line left Central Maine exposed.

Then, with just over 8 minutes remaining, Jeffrey Palmer and Noah Buiniskas would be whistled for minor penalties simultaneously. Buotte would call a timeout to settle his charges but it would pay no dividends. Almost immediately UNE would strike on the 5-on-3 advantage on a wrist shot through traffic from the right circle. Momentum would continue to build for the hosts as they would score again just 30 seconds later. Midway through the Buiniskas tripping minor the Nor'Easters would find the back of the net on a power play breakaway, splitting the Mustangs defense and finding room on a follow-up chance that Strout could do nothing about.

"The penalties almost killed us tonight" said Buotte. "As good as our penalty kill has been it doesn't matter. We need to play with more discipline. We could've really shot ourselves in the foot."

The Mustangs would find their footing again at even strength, eventually grinding the game down as UNE pushed for an equalizer. Strout was equal to the task each time, including two enormous saves as time expired to clinch the Mustangs first win of the season.

The Nor'Easters outshot Central Maine 43-32. Central Maine improved to 1-2-0 with the win while UNE fell to 1-1-0. The teams will meet again on Sunday, December 8th at Norway Savings Bank Arena in the first semester finale. Central Maine's next contest comes quickly, with a 12:30 puck drop at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Sunday