ORONO, Maine – The fifth-ranked University of Maine men's ice hockey team will host the University of Vermont in the final regular season home series this weekend at Alfond Arena.
 
The Black Bears and Catamounts will face off at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28 and at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 1.

Both games will air on ESPN+ with an international stream available via Hockey East/Stretch Internet. The games can also be listened to via 95.7 FM in eastern Maine, 100.5 FM in southern Maine, 1310 AM or online at GoBlackBears.com/MIHRadio.
 
Game 31 | #5 Maine vs Vermont
Friday, Feb. 28, 2025 | 7:00 p.m.
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine | ESPN+
 
Game 32 | #5 Maine vs Vermont
Saturday, March 1, 2025 | 7:00 p.m.
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine | ESPN+
 
WHAT'S ON TAP
• The #5 University of Maine men's ice hockey team will close out the regular season home slate this weekend when it hosts the University of Vermont for two games at Alfond Arena.
• Maine played a single game last weekend, falling 3-2 in overtime on the road at now #9 UConn.
• The Catamounts hosted now #1 Boston College for a pair of games, dropping 6-3 and 4-1 decisions.
 
A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD. . .
• Move Maine to 20-6-5 on the year and 12-4-5 in Hockey East contests.
• Bump the Black Bears to 33-30-9 in the all-time series with the Catamounts.
• Give Maine back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2005-06 and 2006-07.
• Give Maine 20 wins in the first 31 games of the season for the first time since 2006-07.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs VERMONT
• Maine holds an overall mark of 32-30-9 in the series with Vermont ... the Black Bears are 11-12-5 against the Catamounts at Alfond Arena.
• These two teams split a two-game set last season in Burlington ... Maine fell, 2-1 in the first game before bouncing back for a 3-2 win the next night,
• Lynden Breen is Maine's active scoring leader against Vermont, notching five points on three goals and two assists ... nine total current Black Bears have at least one point against the Catamounts.
• The Black Bears and Catamounts first met on Feb. 24, 1978 at Gutterson Fieldhouse, with Maine earning a 6-3 win.
 
ABOUT VERMONT
• The Catamounts enter the weekend at 11-16-3 overall and 6-12-2 in Hockey East games.
• Vermont is 8-6-1 in road games this season, including two top-18 road wins over New Hampshire and UMass Lowell.
• Joel Maatta leads Vermont in scoring with 25 points on nine goals and 16 assists … Colin Kessler has a team-leading 11 goals and has added 11 assists to sit second overall on the team with 22 points.
• Axel Mangbo has seen the majority of minutes in between the pipes, going 9-11-0 with a .891 save percentage, 2.96 goals against average and three shutouts.
 
IT'S WORTH NOTING
• Maine is currently allowing just 1.8 goals against per game, the second- best mark through the first 30 games of the season in program history and currently tied for the second best mark in the country.
• Thirty-six percent of Maine's goals have come in the first two minutes or last two minutes of a period.
• Albin Boija sits third in the nation with a 1.64 goals against average ... Boija is just the second Hockey East goaltender since the start of the 2005-06 season to post a goals against average below 1.65 in their first 29 games played and just the 11th goaltender in the country to do it in the last 10 years
• The Black Bears have seven short-handed goals, good for a tie for third in the country.
• Maine is 12th nationally in face-off winning percentage (53.6) ... Harrison Scott's 57.7 winning percentage is fourth in the country among players with at least 325 wins.
• The Black Bears are the only team in the conference to have two defenders with at least 20 points.
• Maine is fourth in the country in shots allowed per game, giving up just 24.1 per outing.
• The Black Bears have clinched a first-round bye and home ice in the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal round ... with a third-place finish last year and a top-4 spot locked up this year, Maine will have back-to-back top-4 conference finishes for the first time since 2004-05 (fourth) and 2005-06 (tied second).

UP NEXT
• Maine will travel to UMass next weekend to close out the regular season with two games against the Minutemen.