Auburn, Maine - The Central Maine Community College hockey club dropped it's second consecutive game to start the second semester of play, falling in a see-saw battle in a Sunday matinee against the University of Maine by a 6-4 final at Norway Savings Bank Arena. Riley Lavoie and Sam Alexander would both score their first collegiate goals in the defeat, which dropped the Mustangs to 5-11-1 overall and 4-9-1 in ACHA play.
The game saw a mind-boggling 33 penalties which restricted the flow of the contest and brought the game to a crawl at times, with both teams seeing an emphasis on special teams. The Mustangs would stumble out of the gates as a result, with Maine scoring two power play goals in the first period as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead. After Noah Buiniskas received a major for charging just :16 in and Collin Sheehan was whistled for tripping just 16 seconds later the Black Bears would convert on the extended power play. Tony DiPreta scored the first of his two goals, whistling a wrist shot past Jacob Strout at the 6:15 mark of the first. Orono would take on two more, including another power play marker with 1:26 to play, to conclude a dominate first frame.
"Our first period wasn't great," said Mustangs head coach Matt Buotte. "The penalties killed our flow. We couldn't do a lot of the things we wanted to do because we couldn't get into a rhythm. We just have to be more disciplined and adjust our game a little according to how it's being called."
DiPreta would push the Maine lead to 4-0 with 9:14 to play in the middle period off of a pass from Scott Klouda for the Black Bears third power play goal of the evening. From there, the home team showed signs of life. Dylan Demers would rip a perfectly placed shot over Cam Dutra's glove from the left circle to give the Mustangs a pulse. Austin Taylor and Sean Coleman added assists on the play.
Central Maine would finally break through on a power play of their own to begin the third period. Taylor would score his first of the semester off of a feed from Alexander that would cut the deficit to 4-2. However, just 1:10 later the Black Bears had regained their three goal advantage when Patrick Flemshaw took advantage of some sloppy defending and slipped a shot past Strout to put Maine ahead by a 5-2 score.
The Mustangs would not go quietly, however, as Sam Alexander would register his first goal in black and red. He found himself alone in the slot where he ripped a wrist shot by Dutra for a power play tally that cut the lead to 5-3. Maine would answer again just over three minutes later, again regaining their three goal cushion.
"It was tough," said Buotte. "It was really tough. Every time we got momentum going we seemed to do something to shoot ourselves in the foot. We played hard and honestly, we played well. But it's really a bitter loss in the end."
Riley Lavoie would strike for Central Maine with 8:50 to play on an assist from Trevor Roche with a sterling wrist shot from the right point to pull the home side within two, but they would come no closer. Maine outshot Central Maine 38-26 in the victory. Central Maine went 2-for-11 on the power play while Maine clicked at 3-for-9.
The Mustangs will next be in action on Saturday, Februay 1st when they host arch rival Thomas. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m. at Norway Savings Bank Arena and admission is free for all students
