Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Hockey opened the 2025 playoffs with a 4-1 victory over Dartmouth College in the NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association quarterfinals, Wednesday night at Norway Savings Bank Arena. Special teams did the heavy lifting for the Mustangs, as the team scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded to claim the win.
Central Maine started strong in the first period, putting 16 shots on Big Green goaltender Mark McGuire. However, it took until 2:34 remaining in the frame to score the opening goal. With time winding down on a Roger Friedlander tripping penalty, alternate captain Michael Belleau found Aaron Higgins in the defensive zone with a pass off the left wing. Higgins motored into the zone, deked around a defender, and lifted a shot past the glove side from the top of the crease.
The host's second goal came much more quickly. Colby Pawson made it 2-0 at the 2:37 mark of the second period. Belleau won a face-off just outside his own zone and set up fellow alternate captain Evan Knowlton down the left wing. The Lewiston High School product found Pawson in the right circle, and as the former Messalonskee Eagle tried to return the pass to the back post, the puck deflected off defenseman Will Spangler's stick and into the back of the net.
Zach Jones made it 3-0 later in the frame. The transfer from the University of New England picked up a loose puck in his own zone while on the penalty kill and set off on a two-on-one rush with Ethan Blue. Jones reached the left circle and rifled a wrister into the top corner, beating the goaltender clean on the blocker side. It was the Kennebunk, ME native's fifth goal of the season.
Dartmouth did pull one back before the intermission with a power play goal of their own. While on a 4-on-3 advantage, Nathan Rebello found Aedan Coyle in the slot who fed the puck to the right circle for a wide-open Dylan Witzke. Goaltender Isaac White made a valiant attempt, sliding across and getting the tip of his glove on the one-time shot, but the puck had enough momentum to tumble into the back of the net with 2:05 remaining in the second.
White's shutout opportunity may have been gone, but the goaltender out of Westbrook High School still had something to smile about in the third period. After Jones hassled the Big Green into taking a penalty, White stopped a long clearance and left the puck for Ethan Blue to pick up on the rush. The defenseman, who enrolled in the second semester after playing junior hockey with the Maine Nordiques, had ample room to skate into the zone. He got to the slot and sizzled a wrister past the blocker side to make it 4-1 Mustangs with 5:30 left on the clock. White recorded his first career point with the primary assist.
CMCC kept Dartmouth at bay in the third, outshooting them 20-7 over the final 20 minutes and limiting opportunities in the offensive zone. When the horn sounded to end the game, Central Maine had advanced to the NECHA Semifinals for the third straight year.
The Mustangs outshot the Big Green 50-29 and finished 2-for-3 on the power play. CMCC won the season series with Dartmouth, taking two of three meetings, both on home ice. It was the first postseason meeting between the two schools since 2023, when the Ivy League school won the NECHA Championship with a 3-2 win in Nashua, NH.
Next up, CMCC advances to the NECHA final four at Keene Community Ice Arena in New Hampshire. The Mustangs will face the #1 seed out of the NECHA Colonial South division, the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards. That game will be played this Saturday, February 22nd at 8:00 pm. The winner will advance to Sunday's championship game against the victor of Colby College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the other semifinal match-up.
