The USM men’s hockey team showcased their resilience as they rallied twice from two goals down to earn a tie with national powerhouse and ECAC East foe Castleton State University at the USM Ice Arena in Gorham on Friday night.
Goaltending proved crucial for the Huskies in this match-up, as USM freshman goalie Brealy Torris (Eckville, Alberta) continued his stellar season by stopping 45 of the Spartans’ 49 shots. The tie brings the Huskies’ conference record to 2-10-2 and their overall record to 4-11-4. USM halted Castleton’s 13-game win streak, bringing their conference record to 11-2-1 and their overall record to a very solid 17-2-1.
Down two goals heading into the third period, the Huskies had their work cut out for them over the next 20 minutes. And work was exactly what they did, as they scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the period, coming back from a two-goal deficit for the second time in the game.
USM’s first goal in the final period came from senior defenseman Paul Conter (Woodbridge, Ont.) as he fired a 40-foot shot that slipped past Castleton freshman goaltender Erick Cinotti at the 4:13 mark. Conter’s goal was assisted by junior Dan Rautenberg (Cape Elizabeth) and senior tri-captain Steve Wiedler (Farmingville, NY).
Less than three minutes later, sophomore forward Matt McDonald (Byfield, MA) scored his second goal of the season at the 6:56 mark to tie the game at four. Conter’s goal marked his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
From that point on, Torris and Cinotti were brick walls in front of the net. The rookie goalies each made game-saving saves for their teams in overtime, with Cinotti stopping a tremendous attempt by Rautenberg, and Torris denying Castleton leading goal scorer Justin Alonzo.
Castleton, who is the third-ranked DIII team in the country, got off to a hot start in the opening eight minutes when sophomore Chris Wieland scored his first career goal 5 minutes and 24 seconds into the game. A little over two minutes later, the Spartans struck again, this time coming from Alonzo, with his team-leading 14th goal of the season.
USM stood their ground though, grinding it out with Castleton as they got on the board themselves at the 13:17 minute mark off a power-play goal from Rautenberg, marking his fourth tally of the season. Freshman Mike Greene (Arvada, CO) also lit the lamp for his fourth goal of the season, and the first goal of the second period to tie the score at 2-2.
The Spartans countered USM’s comeback though, as they railed off two goals in the next seven minutes by Stuart Stefan and Braden Kinnebrew to take a two-goal lead again, before Conter and McDonald came back to tie it in the third.
Despite being out-shot by 27 (49-22), the Huskies fared well against a very tough Castleton team that outscored their opponents 68-24 during their 13-game win streak. USM continued that solid play into Saturday’s game against Skidmore in Gorham as they won their first game since Dec. 11, defeating the Thoroughbreds 3-2.
Torris proved the be one deciding factor in this victory as well. The freshman from Alberta stopped a tremendous 35 out 37 shots to help lead the Huskies to a win on Senior Day at the USM Ice Arena — USM’s last home game of the season.
The Huskies came from behind once again in this game with Conter striking first at the 7:09 mark, but Skidmore came right back as senior Alex Mykolenko and junior Nick Dupuis beat Torris 30 seconds apart.
USM senior Zach Joy (Dover, NH) scored to tie the game 12:58 into the second period with assists from Conter and senior Mike Carpenter; sophomore David Nies (Brookline, MA) netted the game winner less than two minutes later.
The Huskies will be on the road for the remainder of the season as they will play four NESCAC schools in the next two weeks. USM will travel to Connecticut College on Friday, Feb. 11, Tufts on Saturday, Feb. 12, Wesleyan on Friday, Feb. 18, and will finish up the season at Trinity on Saturday, Feb. 19.
USM is currently in ninth in the ECAC East — the top eight teams get into the league playoffs. But with their impressive performances this past weekend against conference opponents, the Huskies seem to be catching a second wind. With wins in their upcoming match-ups they just might slip into the playoffs.