It was a hard-hitting, physical contest on Friday night at Piney Orchard Ice Arena between the top two teams in the East Division with the first-place Maine Nordiques coming to town to take on the second-place Maryland Black Bears in the first of a two-game set. On this night, it was the Nordiques riding a hot start in the first period to a 4-1 win over the hometown Black Bears.

Maine struck first with a goal from forward Connor McNaughton, who chipped the puck past Maryland goaltender Benji Motew on a three-on-one rush to make it 1-0. The Black Bears’ first period was filled with penalties, as they handed the Nordiques five power plays in the game’s opening frame. On attempt two, defenseman Ocean Fancy used a slap shot from the point to beat Motew for a 2-0 Maine lead.

The Black Bears got on the board in a strong bounce-back second period off a turnover by the Nordiques, leading to a snapshot goal in the slot from forward Kieran Litterick who beat Maine goaltender Mathew DellaRusso blocker side to make it 2-1. The Nordiques responded later in the frame with a goal from the slot from forward Shane Kozlina who put the puck low blocker side to make it 3-1. Maine forward Ethan Wongus capped off the scoring with an empty net goal in the third period for a 4-1 final.

The Maine Nordiques and Maryland Black Bears will rematch on Saturday, October 19th, at Piney Orchard Ice Arena with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. All games can be streamed on NAHLTV.