Auburn, ME – Two goals from Aaron Higgins and a three-point day from Evan Knowlton were not enough to keep Central Maine from dropping its second straight game to the Colorado School of Mines on Monday afternoon, 6-4. The Mustangs hit the post and crossbar five times before tying the game late on, but the Orediggers took the lead with 1:22 remaining and added an empty netter to seal the victory.

"It just didn't go our way tonight," said head coach Jordy Knoren. "I think Friday our game was very sloppy, we didn't have good execution, and lost a lot of 50-50 battles. But today we came out on a mission and had better quality chances. It was definitely a step forward for our program. That's the way we want to play."

It was the second meeting in four days between the two squads, with the Colorado School of Mines splitting a pair of games at Dartmouth College on Saturday and Sunday before returning to Maine to finish off their four-day swing through New England.

Central Maine looked to take advantage of their visitors' tired legs early on. Higgins gave the hosts a 1-0 lead just 5:58 into the first period. Knowlton sprung the Falmouth, ME native with a pass through center and he did the rest, getting a step behind the last defender before deking to the top of the crease and shoveling the puck over the glove of goaltender Dylan Eldridge. It continues Higgins hot start to the season with the transfer from Liberty University having scored in all three games in a CMCC jersey.

The Orediggers evened things up just before the end of the frame. Ben Lombardi's one-timer from the right circle was blocked. Nick Malaniuk found the loose puck for a point-blank shot off of freshman goalie Ryan Becker's pads, and Lombardi cleaned up the rebound with a backhander at the top of the crease.

The second period featured a string of power play goals. Mikita Kalmykov put the Mustangs back on top with his first collegiate tally at the 2:12 mark. The forward from Minsk, Belarus finished off a rebound in front after Michael Belleau redirected Knowlton's shot from the right wing. The goal came on CMCC's lone man advantage of the contest.

The Colorado School of Mines took a 3-2 lead on back-to-back power play tallies by Emilio Rodriguez. The forward hammered home a one-timer from the left circle just before the midway point of the hockey game to tie things up. He then redirected a slap pass from Ripken Renner at the top of the crease with 1:47 left in the period.

CMCC would show they weren't about to head back to the locker room down easy, scoring less than a minute later to make it 3-3 after 40 minutes. Captain Zach Mitton flipped a pass out from behind his own goal line that Higgins got a touch on to negate the icing. Eldridge chose to let it bounce behind the net and Higgins quickly swooped in to tuck a wrap-around shot inside the far post past the surprised netminder.

The back-and-forth contest continued with Jordan Larese putting the Orediggers back out in front 7:59 into the third. The forward stole the puck at the right point and let fly from the circle. His wrist shot somehow found a way through Becker and trickled agonizingly over the goal line.

With time ticking down, Knoren pulled his goalie for the extra attacker giving the Mustangs a six-on-five advantage and some space to operate in the offensive zone. Higgins turned provider this time, whipping a cross ice pass to Knowlton at the right point. The former Lewiston Blue Devil pulled the trigger with plenty of traffic in front of the net, but his shot sailed cleanly through, sneaking in off the underside of the right pad. Knowlton's second of the campaign made it 4-4 with 1:55 left to play.

The Mustangs joy was short lived however. Just 33 seconds later, Larese drove toward the net from the left corner but fanned on his shot. The puck somehow slid under Becker's glove coming to rest in the crease. Nathan Cote crashed in to knock it home and give Colorado a shock 5-4 lead.

Central Maine went with an extra attacker once again hoping for another late miracle, but Henry Taliaferro scored on the empty net to seal the victory with a minute to go.

The loss drops the Mustangs to 2-2 on the season. The reigning NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association champions hit the road for the first time later this week to begin their defense of the conference crown. CMCC faces Thomas College on Thursday, October 17^th before traveling to Biddeford to play the UNE Nor'easters on Sunday, October 20^th.