The University of Maine men’s hockey team squandered a 2-0 lead but hung on to earn a 2-2 tie with Colgate University at the Class of 65 Arena in Hamilton, New York, Friday night.
Maine is now 3-2-2 including a 1-1-2 record in overtime. Colgate is 0-3-3 and has tied all three of its overtime games so far this season.
Colgate is still looking for its first win in the new Class of 65 Arena as the Raiders are 0-1-3 entering Saturday’s 7 p.m. game against the Black Bears.
Second-period goals by Chase Pearson and Nolan Vesey staked Maine to its 2-0 lead but the Raiders tied it early in the third period as Tyler Penner converted on the power play just 41 seconds into the period and Bobby McMann notched the equalizer 5:24 later.
Rob McGovern finished with 39 saves for Maine while Charlie Finn had 29 for Colgate.
“We played well early but struggled as the game wore on,” said Maine coach Red Gendron. “We didn’t batte as hard as we did in the first part of the game and we didn’t move the puck or put pucks on net. We were trying to make fancy plays, low-percentage plays, and we were turning the puck over. We weren’t making the first available play.
“We’re never satisfied when we don’t win. Our job is to keep getting better,” added the fourth-year Maine coach.
Freshman center Pearson scored his third of the season at the 10:04 mark and the power-play goal snapped UMaine’s 0-14 drought with the man advantage.
Eric Schurhamer took a pass from Blaine Byron at the point and fired the puck through a maze of players. The puck deflected behind Finn and Pearson shoved it home.
Vesey extended the lead 7:48 later thanks to a nice play by sophomore defenseman Rob Michel.
Michel took a pass from Mark Hamilton at the right point, faked a shot to get around a Colgate forward and then took a few strides before snapping a 25-foot shot that was tipped in by Vesey.
Michel was shaken up in overtime after taking a hit against the boards from Jared Cockrell and he didn’t return.
The Raiders nearly got one back in the final seconds of the middle period when a Willie Brooks shot from the point hit the far post and a wild scramble ensued.
There was some shoving as a result of the scramble and Maine was assessed an extra penalty.
Penner capitalized by tucking home a McMann rebound that came to him off the lively boards behind the net.
McMann’s shot from the right circle missed the short side but Penner was positioned near the extended goal line to McGovern’s left and he jammed it between McGovern’s left pad and the post.
The unattended McMann tied it when John Snodgrass wristed the puck to the net from the right wing boards and he pounced on the rebound and backhanded a 10-footer past McGovern’s right skate.
The Raiders pressed for the game-winner, outshooting Maine 16-3 in the third period and 3-0 in overtime, but McGovern came up with several important saves to earn the tie.
The Black Bears outshot Colgate 15-7 in the scoreless first period and had a 25-15 edge at one point in the second period only to see the hosts outshoot them 26-6 the rest of the way.
“We aren’t happy with the tie. We shouldn’t have blown the 2-0 lead. When we don’t win, it’s not acceptable. We’ve got to do better than that. We’ve got to come out and get a win on Saturday,” junior left winger Vesey said.