Taking to the ice last Friday night in hopes of a victory to put themselves back into a winning streak, the Huskies faced off against the Colby College Mules. A local rival as well as a perennial playoff opponent, the Mules (10-6-0) came to Gorham to avenge their 3-4 loss to the Huskies earlier this season.
Having gone 1-3-2 in their last six games, and tied for third place with New England College in the ECAC-East division, the win would have moved the Huskies up to tie for second with Babson and position them for a strong end-of-the-season push towards the post-season tournaments.
After a hard-fought game in which they controlled most of the play, the Huskies had to settle for a loss after Colby rallied in the third period, beating them 5-3.
The Huskies, unfortunately, went in to the game already battered and torn. Three of their top four defensemen were out
injured, so their leading scorer, senior Mike Stevens (Dover, NH), was called on to fill in on defense.
The Huskies needed to play solid defense as well as timely offense if they were going to escape the Mules.
The Huskies (11-4-3) came out flying in the first period and controlled the opening five minutes of play with good puck movement and constant pressure on Colby’s defense.
Southern Maine got on the board first at the 4:40 mark when junior Dan Gordon (Lynnfield, MA) jammed home a loose puck that was bouncing in front of Colby goalie, Cody McKinney.
Junior Eric Morgani (Reading, MA) began the replay-worthy play when he caught the high-flying puck with one hand at the Colby blue line and swung it around his back so that it landed in front of him heading toward the net. Beating the Colby defense, he created a 2-on-1 with Gordon and shot it hard at the net.
In the ensuing scrum, Gordon found the puck and jammed it in.
The next few minutes saw back-and-forth action until freshman Zach Joy (Dover, NH) was called out on a tripping penalty and sent to the box at 10:33.
Just under a minute later, Colby’s Arthur Fritch used the power play to tie the game on a rebound, pushing the blocked shot past senior goalie Jamie Gilbert (Lewiston).
The Huskies countered almost immediately when sophomore Chris Travis (Scituate, MA) seemed magically to maneuver the bouncing puck over the Colby goalie’s left shoulder.
The Huskies entered the second period with the momentum of a 2-1 lead, and controlled most of the second period, out-shooting Colby 16-5.
“Outside of a four-minute time span, I thought we controlled the whole game,” said Coach Jeff Beaney after their disappointing loss.
Colby got back on the board in the middle of the second period after a shot from the right circle beat a screened Gilbert at the 9:45 mark.
USM wasted no time with their counter attack, and got the lead back at the 12:10 mark on a strike from Joy, assisted by senior Dane Marshall (Yarmouth, Nova Scotia).
The Huskies dominated this period on paper and on the ice, making plenty of chances to score. Stevens and sophomore Pat Noonan (Burlington, MA) each hit the pipe before the period ended, leaving the crowd begging the hockey gods to bring another ounce of luck to the Huskies.
USM entered the third period still ahead 3-2, but Colby came out strong from the locker room and immediately took over the game. Colby’s Wil Hartigan scored just one minute into the third period on a fluke bounce off the end boards that put the puck right in front of a wide open net.
Colby didn’t allow USM another counterattack, scoring 22 seconds later at the 1:30 mark when Matt Strickland put a one-timer past a sprawling Gilbert.
USM had numerous chances in the third period to tie the game. Junior Josh Giordano (Quincy, MA) had a breakaway midway through the third but his attempt was stopped solid by McKinney.
Junior Kyle Smith (Auburn) also had a point-blank shot in the latter part of the third, but his shot went wild as he was checked from behind.
Colby cemented their win on a rebound goal from Bobby Sullivan.
“They scored those two quick goals and just clamped down defensively,” said coach Beaney. “Colby is a good team and that’s something they can do when they get ahead.”
Commenting on lead scorer Stevens’ staying at defense for the game, Beaney said, “Stevens is top 4 or 5 in scoring in this league and this was his first time ever playing defense. It was a new experience. I just want to be able to help out the team and win in whatever way. It’s hard to say good things when you lose, but I thought we played well.”
After a week on the road, the Huskies will return home next Friday (Feb. 15) to take on Tufts at 7 p.m. Admission to all USM athletic events is free with your USM ID.