Redshirt junior goalie Matt Morris, making his first start since being pulled after two periods of a loss to Vermont on Nov. 29, made 29 saves to post his first career shutout as the University of Maine snapped a 12-game road winless streak with a 3-0 non-conference victory over UMass Saturday night at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Juniors Ben Hutton and Steven Swavely each had a goal and an assist in the win and Devin Shore had two assists.
Maine hadn’t won at an opponents’ rink since a 2-1 triumph at Notre Dame on Feb. 7.
The Black Bears had gone 0-11-1 since that time and had lost their last 10 road games.
Maine improved to 7-14-1 with the victory while UMass fell to 6-15, including a 2-9 home record.
Maine was won four of its last six games.
Eric Schurhamer had the other goal for the Black Bears, coming with 4:26 remaining in regulation.
“[Morris] played a tremendous game,” said Hutton.
“I was happy to get the win. To get a shutout is a bonus,” said Morris, who was informed that he was going to get the start from head coach Red Gendron on Thursday. “I owe the guys. They made my job a lot easier. It was exciting to be back in net.”
Freshman Sean Romeo had started the last seven games.
The goals by Hutton and Schurhamer were power-play goals, giving Maine its first game with more than one power-play goal since a 4-3 overtime loss at Vermont on Nov. 7. That represented a span of 12 games.
Morris’ win was his first since he beat UMass in Orono 6-5 in overtime on Oct. 31.
Defenseman Hutton opened the scoring 35 seconds into the second period when he pounced on a Shore rebound that had popped in the air off UMass goalie Henry Dill’s blocker.
“I was coming down from the point so I saw it come down in front of the net. I backhanded it in,” said Hutton who tucked it past Dill.
Swavely also assisted on Hutton’s fifth goal of the season.
UMass senior right wing and captain Troy Power had received a five-minute major and game misconduct for interference leading to the Hutton goal.
Swavely snapped a six-game goalless drought at the 7:18 mark of the middle period when he one-timed a pass from behind the net by Shore for his fourth of the campaign.
“I had just come off the bench and (Shore) found me uncovered in the slot. I was able to shoot it over (Dill’s) pad, blocker-side,” said Swavely who was reunited on a line with Shore and Connor Leen.
“We played together some last year and a little bit this year. We have a good chemistry together,” said Swavely.
That line combined for a goal and three assists and 13 shots on goal.
Swavely added that he was he was relieved to break his goal famine.
“In the previous games, I had a couple of chances but they weren’t going in,” said Swavely.
Schurhamer scored on a shot from the faceoff circle after being set up by Hutton and Cam Brown. It was his second of the season.
“We had a nice (passing) triangle at the top (of the slot) and Cam made a great pass over to (Schurhamer). He made a nice little move and beat the goalie from the circle,” said Hutton.
Dill finished with 34 saves for the MInutemen.
Gendron and the Maine players were pleased with the performance and the win.
“It was a great win because of the way the guys played. They played a great game,” said Gendron. “They were determined and they finished the game.”
Gendron was referring to Maine’s penchant for squandering leads in the third period.
Maine entered the game with a 4-5 record when leading after two periods.
“We played real well,” said Hutton. “All the lines were going. We were good on the forecheck and in the neutral zone.
“It was a very important win. We played a good game on Friday night (3-2 loss) but didn’t get the result we wanted,” Hutton added. “We needed to get a road win as we get ready to go down the stretch.”
Maine’s final 14 games are all Hockey East games beginning with the Friday night home game with UMass Lowell. Maine will then host Boston College at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Hockey East Player of the Month (December) Frank Vatrano had a game-high 10 shots on goal for UMass.