ORONO, Maine – Three third period goals pushed the University of Maine men’s hockey team past Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), on Saturday night at Alfond Arena. With the win, the Black Bears improve to 2-0, while the Engineers drop to 0-2.
Trailing 2-1 entering the third period, Maine tied the game at 5:50 on Daniel Perez’s first goal of the season. Patrick Shea threw the puck at the net and Perez was waiting on the doorstep to redirect it past RPI freshman goaltender Chase Perry. Ryan Smith was credited with the secondary assist.
Mitchell Fossier then gave the Black Bears the lead for good at 9:31 of the frame, gathering a loose puck in the offensive zone and sticking it past Perry for his fourth goal of the weekend.
Maine added an empty-netter with eight seconds left to cap the scoring. Chase Pearson buried his second of the year from Cam Brown and Mark Hamilton.
The Engineers opened the scoring at 5:35 of the first period on a solo effort by senior Riley Bourbonnais. After his initial shot from the blue line was knocked down, Bourbonnais snapped a second attempt from the right circle past Maine goalie Rob McGovern for a shorthanded tally.
The Black Bears tied the game (1-1) at 15:29 of the first, when Brown found Blaine Byron at the right post for a one-timer. Claiming the puck behind the cage, Brown quickly worked it to Byron, who was able to snap it home before Perry could slide across the crease.
Junior Drew Melanson tallied RPI’s second shorthanded goal of the game at 5:23 of the second period. The only marker of the stanza came after a shot by freshman Jacob Hayhurst was turned away by McGovern. The rebound popped to Melanson, who finished his first of the year.
Perry (0-2) had 37 saves, including 16 in the third period alone. McGovern (2-0) got in front of 39 RPI attempts, totaling 15 in the second.
The Engineers are back in action next Saturday, when they travel to first-ranked North Dakota (7pm). Maine hosts second-ranked Quinnipiac for a two-game series next Friday (7:30pm) and Saturday (7pm).
