Published: November 24, 2025
On November 1st, 2025, the USM Men’s hockey team took the ice for their home opener against Saint Anselm College. Alumni, students, and parents were in the audience, ready for Huskies to bring home a win. Since the opening game, the Huskies have been doing an amazing job on the ice and bringing home wins for the University of Southern Maine. With a good amount of new freshmen joining the team for this season, it was interesting to see what the new dynamic of the team was going to look like. The first goal was scored by player 29, Kayde Kinaschuk. All the other goals were scored by number 13, Ben Aucoin. Aucoin scored a total of 6 goals, naturally a double hat-trick. The game ended with the Huskies winning 7-1.
Long after the game ended, Aucoin and his goals stayed in the mind of the USM community. Aucoin broke a record that stood for over thirty-three years. However, when Aucoin scored his fifth goal in the game, he beat it and continued to score a sixth. Aucoin is majoring in finance and is from New Brunswick, Canada. Aucoin has been playing hockey since he was four years old. A player that he looked up to when he was younger was Patrick Kane, who currently plays for the Detroit Red Wings but originally was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. Aucoin says, “he was just kind of the same player that I wanted to be. Great hands, good shot, and he was fun to watch.” It was extremely fun to watch Aucoin on the ice and see him in what appears to be his element. One can also say that he has an amazing shot.
When asked how it felt to break the record, Aucoin said, “It’s an honor. Obviously, you don’t come into the season looking to do something like that. You just want to help the team win. It’s pretty cool to see the reaction from the school, my teammates, and friends from home It’s a good feeling.” Right before the game against Saint Anselm, the current Huskies team played against alumni, and Aucoin said that the goal was to get that win for them because it would make their weekend a lot better. Needless to say, the alumni who were in the audience seemed heavily impressed with what was happening on the ice that night.
Even though he is merely a freshman himself, when asked for a piece of advice to give upcoming players on the team next year, he said, “Just keep working hard. Obviously, your roles are going to change when you come into a new school with older guys and stuff. But if you stick to what you know and what you do best, be a good teammate and coachable, things will fall into place for you.” Aucoin was featured on the Maine news channel, WGME, for his extraordinary performance in the game against Saint Anselm.
