Winthrop, Mass. - Resolute defending, timely goalkeeping, and a little bit of good fortune turned out to be the perfect recipe for the Central Maine Community College hockey team on Saturday night as they ended a three game losing streak in exciting fashion with a 3-3 road tie against Suffolk University. All six goals in the contest would come in the first period in an exciting, breakneck affair that saw the teams trade chances in almost reckless fashion.
Suffolk, who defeated the Mustangs by a combined 14-4 in the two meetings between the clubs last season, wasted no time putting the Mustangs on their heels. The Rams would score less than a minute into the contest only to see the goal waved off, with the officials determining the puck had been batted in with a high stick. The no goal would only be a harbinger for the Rams legitimate first strike, which would come just seconds later. Just 70 seconds into the contest Jeffrey Cowles would put the home team ahead, slipping a quick wrist shot past Mustangs goalkeeper Jacob Strout. The goal was unassisted.
"We definitely started flat," said Mustangs head coach Matt Buotte. "We knew Suffolk was a high quality opponent and they definitely took it to us for the first minute or two. I was really proud of the boys, though. We took a punch but we only staggered. We found our footing and threw back a few of our own."
From there, the game would seem to accelerate into high gear. Mustangs forward Trevor Olivier would flip a puck into the neutral zone that bounced favorably for linemate Trevor Roche, who raced in alone behind the Suffolk defense and fired a laser past Suffolk netminder Kenny Uminski to level the score at one. The contest would stay level for a mere 10 seconds, however, as the Mustangs would immediately concede off of the subsequent faceoff. Owen Bligh would slip a shot through Strout to put Suffolk back on top with Cameron Roach adding an assist on the play.
The Rams would hold the lead through the next eight minutes until Central Maine could grab a goal of their own. River Yearwood collected a loose puck that had squeaked through Uminski after the Mustangs defenseman had joined the rush and poked it into the yawning cage. It was the first collegiate goal for Yearwood, with Warren Karlberg and Austin Taylor adding assists on the play.
The Mustangs continued to apply pressure to the Suffolk defense and would be rewarded for their efforts with 4:09 to play in the period. Defenseman Riley Lavoie drove the puck down the right wing before whipping a pass to a well-positioned Warren Karlberg in front, who deftly redirected the puck past Uminski to give the Mustangs their first lead since they lead Worcester Polytechnic Institute 1-0 in the first period of a 7-3 loss all the way back on October 27th.
Suffolk would once again find an answer, this time on the power play. With Lavoie in the box for tripping, Noah Wines would finish off a precise passing play that saw the Rams solve Strout for what would prove to be the final time. Bryce Jacob would notch his first point of the night on the play, with Roach would add his second assist of the evening. The first would end level at 3-3, with Suffolk leading in shots on goal by a 19-8 margin.
The game seemed destined for a high scoring affair through one period of play. Which meant, of course, that the game would then go the remaining 45 minutes--including a 5 minute, sudden death overtime--without another goal being scored. It was not for lack of chances, however.
The game suddenly morphed into a goaltending duel, with both goaltenders making save after save. Shawn Sullivan pulled a Suffolk attempt that squeaked through Strout off of the goal line before jumping into the play and seeing one his own attempts thwarted. Jeff Palmer had an opportunity denied in front late in the second and Warren Karlberg was denied in tight as well. The game ebbed and flowed but neither team would break, with Suffolk again outshooting the Mustangs in the middle period by a count of 15-10.
It set up a thrilling third period in which neither team could find a go-ahead goal. Central Maine would create a plethora of third period chances--the most noteworthy being Mustangs newcomer Cameron Bourassa's rebound bid that was stoned by Uminski--but could not break the ice. Then, with Central Maine on a power play in the final two minutes of the game, a fumble at the blue line lead to a Suffolk breakaway that Strout would calmly deny to keep the game scoreless.
The teams would head into overtime with Central Maine on the power play but despite a few quality chances, including a Trevor Roche one-timer for the point, they could not break through on the man advantage. Central Maine would outshoot the hosts 6-4 in the overtime period but could not solve Uminksi with Sullivan, Lavoie, and Zac Brown all having chances denied as the teams would skate to a palpitating 3-3 draw on the eastern shores of Boston.
" It was truly a great test of our character," said Buotte of the result. "I'm so proud of these guys. That's a good team over there. They smoked us last year, we weren't even in the game when we came down here. It was awesome to see us leaving here with a great result in a game that we even felt we could have won. I think it shows what we can accomplish when guys are bought in like that, just committed every shift. I think it sets the stage for a great rematch in a few weeks."
The teams will play again in Auburn on December 7th at 7:00 p.m. In the meantime, Central Maine returns to Norway Savings Bank Arena for their first home game in 37 days as they host Wentworth Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon. The puck will drop at 4:00.
