The University of Maine’s men’s hockey team extended its Hockey East first-round series to a third and deciding game as the Black Bears received a pair of goals from senior left wing Connor Leen to beat Vermont 4-2 Saturday night at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vermont.
Vermont won Friday night’s game 4-2.
Game three is 7:05 p.m. Sunday.
The Black Bears are now 14-21-3 and snapped UVM’s eight-game winning streak at their expense, including five losses this season.
Vermont fell to 19-13-4.
Leen’s second goal of the game broke a 2-2 tie at the 16:16 mark of the second period and sophomore right wing Brian Morgan gave the Black Bears some important breathing room by scoring with 8:19 left in regulation.
Cedric Lacroix staked Maine to a 1-0 lead just 55 seconds into the game but Colin Markison answered on a five-on-three power play at the 7:46 mark.
Leen scored 36 seconds into the second period but Brendan Bradley equalized 7:39 later.
Leen broke the deadlock thanks to a fortuitous bounce.
Billy Norman, playing in place of the injured Eric Schurhamer, took a shot from the left point that deflected in on UVM goalie Mike Santaguida. Santaguida pushed the puck with his stick and the puck glanced off Leen and into the net. Leen was being tied up by a Catamount at the edge of the crease.
It was Leen’s first two-goal game of his career.
Morgan extended the lead following a net drive by Lacroix. Lacroix made a nifty move to evade a Catamount and tried to jam the puck into the short side.
Santaguida held the post and made the save but the puck rolled behind the net to Steven Swavely.
Morgan, parked in the low slot to the right of Santaguida, took a few steps backward to create a better shooting angle and one-timed Swavely’s pass into the upper short-side corner past Santaguida’s blocker.
Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon pulled Santaguida with 3:17 remaining but Vermont couldn’t cut into the lead.
Lacroix opened the scoring by positioning himself at the edge of the crease and getting his stick on a wrister by Swavely, who spun around and wristed it toward the net from the high slot.
Markison tied it when he anchored in front of the net and tipped Mike Paliotta’s wrister past Maine goalie Sean Romeo.
Leen made it 2-1 by finishing off a beautiful passing sequence.
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