In their first game since the winter break, the Maine Black Bears traveled to Manchester, New Hampshire for a non-conference matchup against the University of New Hampshire.
 
The Wildcats of UNH started the scoring early as Jason Salvaggio was able to capitalize on a 2 on 1 opportunity with teammate Michael McNicholas. Tyler Kelleher was to start the play adding a secondary assist on the play. Maine was able to answer back quickly as Cedric Lacroix won an offensive zone faceoff to Sam Becker, who later found Ryan Smith creeping up the half wall, funneling a puck short side on UNH goaltender Daniel Tirone. The Black Bears would head to the powerplay halfway through the period, but it was the Wildcats who were able to capitalize on a rolling puck turnover. UNH forward Shane Eiserman would find himself all along against Maine goaltender Rob McGovern, rifling a puck just underneath the bar to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead heading into the break.
 
The second period saw the Black Bears score early. Eric Schurhamer was able to score right off the faceoff as Pat Shea won it to the point. Eric Schurhamer was able to creep to the middle of the ice and fire a shot to the far side of Tirone, knotting the score at 2. Tyler Kelleher was able to put the Wildcats back on top as he was able to beat his defender wide and fire a shot over McGovern's shoulder on the near post. That would end McGovern's night, making 8 saves on 11 shots. Justin Fregona was then able to extend the Wildcats' lead to 4-2 as he capitalized quickly on a Neutral Zone turnover beating Matt Morris over the blocker. Maine was able to answer as Eric Schurhamer scored his second of the night on the powerplay with under a minute to go in the period on assists from Cam Brown and Cedric Lacroix. Maine entered second intermission down 4-3.
 
Jason Salvaggio was able to open the third period scoring at the 14:02 mark, on assists from Tyler Kelleher and Cameron Marks. With time dwindling down, and the Black Bears down 5-3, Coach Gendron called timeout setting up the empty net situation. The Black Bears generated multiple opportunities including right off the faceoff, but Tyler Kelleher was able to seal the game for the Wildcats, notching an empty net goal on assists from linemates Jason Salvaggio and Michael McNicholas. Freshman Patrick Holway was able to cut the lead to 6-4 for the Black Bears on a beautiful assist by Malcolm Hayes. Matt Morris would register 11 saves on 13 shots against in the loss. UNH goaltender Daniel Tirone would register 33 saves, picking up his ninth win of the season.
 
The Black Bears return to action on January 6^th as they take on the US National Team Development Program at famed Alfond Arena. Tickets are still available by skating over to goblackbears.com.
 
-UMaine-