Auburn, ME – The CMCC Men's Hockey team renewed its rivalry with crosstown twin cities rival Bates College, picking up a 6-2 win at home over the Bobcats on Friday night. The Mustangs struggled through an underwhelming performance in the first two periods before pulling out the win with three goals in the third.

"Give them credit, they came out and worked hard," said head coach Jordy Knoren. "I think we were just sloppy from the beginning. Lots of mental errors. You have to give Bates credit for how they came out and competed with us. Lucky enough we got a couple more goals in the end, but probably are worst game of the year to be honest."

It took Central Maine until 5:50 left in the first period to get on the board. Leading scorer Aaron Higgins took a cross ice pass from Jonathan Rioux and beat the defense down the right-wing boards. The Falmouth, ME native deked across the top of the crease before flipping a backhand shot over the right pad of goaltender James Flavell.

Bates stunned the home crowd at Norway Savings Bank Arena three minutes later. A shot from the point went wide but caromed off the end boards to the side of the net. Lucas Wyman tried to find the corner quickly but was thwarted by the right pad of Sebastian Couturier. However, the rebound came out in front to an unmarked Charlie Kohn who stretched out his stick to poke the puck in to make it 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

A frustrated coach Knoren lit into his team in the locker room, which seemed to do the trick. Forward Zach Jones helped set the tone, dishing out hits and playing physical in the corners.

Four minutes into the second Higgins looked for a goal nearly identical to his first, this time driving down the left wing before swooping across the crease. Flavell made the save but Cody Ivey found the rebound, whacking it home on the second attempt. It did take an extra moment for the goal to be called as the referee was knocked over in the corner, forcing an alert linesman to skate towards the net and verify the puck had crossed the line.

Things seemed to be going a lot smoother when Higgins set up Ivey for his second of the night just before the midway point of the contest. The transfer from Liberty University deked his way past three Bobcats before sliding the puck across the slot to Ivey on the edge of the left circle. The Winslow, ME native did not miss from there, hammering home a one-timer to make it 3-1 CMCC.

But once again Bates had a reply late in the period, this time with only three seconds left. Star center Simon Wilson won a face-off from the left circle in the offensive zone, pushing the puck towards the top of the crease and beating Couturier with a point-blank wrist shot. That made it 3-2 and stunned the Mustangs faithful into silence.

Staring down the barrel of a big upset, Central Maine responded by controlling the third period from start to finish. The Mustangs allowed just one shot on goal while firing 22 at net on the other end. The result was a three-goal period that put the game away.

Higgins scored his second of the game from a face-off win by Colby Pawson, with Ivey tapping the puck back for a twisted wrister from right circle that beat the netminder blocker side. It was Higgins' 16^th goal of the season in 12 games.

Mikita Kalmykov then tallied two minutes later at the 6:49 mark to make it 5-2 with a goal from four-on-four play. And Pawson put the cherry on top with two minutes left, redirecting a Higgins pass across the slot off his backhand and up under the bar for the 6-2 final score.

Higgins ended the night with two goals and three assists, bringing him to an even 30 points on the season at more than a two per game pace. Ivey's two scores gave the senior his first multi-goal game of the campaign, while Couturier picked up his first point with a secondary assist and improved to 5-3-0 in net with the win.

"He's a goal scorer," coach Knoren said of Higgins' performance. "He's kind of a power forward that likes to go wide and get pucks on net. I think today with Pawson and Ivey that line was really clicking. They're all forechecking, covering and switching, and their line looks good right now."

CMCC improves to 9-4-0 and 4-1-0 in NECHA play. The Mustangs continue their three-game homestand when they host the University of New England Nor'easters on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:25 pm.