The Maine Nordiques came into town to take on the Maryland Black Bears for the first time since the two teams met last spring in the East Division final. There, the Nordiques swept the Black Bears to advance to the Robertson Cup Semifinal. But Maryland had revenge on its mind this time around, using two shorthanded goals to down Maine by the score of 5-3.
The Black Bears got the scoring started with a point shot from defenseman Sean Kilcullen through a screen to make it 1-0. Less than two minutes later, Maryland forward Brad McNeil got the team’s first shorthanded goal of the game on a penalty shot. McNeil used a backhand move to score and make it 2-0. The Nordiques responded with two goals a few minutes apart to tie the game from defenseman Nicholas Bernardo and forward Dom Marcinkevics.
Maine took the lead in the second period with Marcinkevics’ second goal of the game on a breakaway to make it 3-2. Maryland was able to tie the game late in the second when newly acquired forward Laker Aldridge scored on a rebound to make the score 3-3. Black Bears’ defenseman Bobby Staring regained the lead for Maryland with a point shot to make it 4-3. The game came down to the final minutes where the Black Bears took a penalty to go shorthanded. But there, Maryland forward Elliott Lareau iced the game with a shorthanded empty-net goal to make the final score 5-3.
The Black Bears and Nordiquese rematch Saturday, September 25th at Piney Orchard Ice Arena. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM ET and the game can be streamed on HockeyTV.
