Friday, October 2
Worcester, Mass.
7:00 PM
University of Maine
at
Holy Cross
Photo by: Anthony DelMonaco
PREVIEW: Men's hockey opens up 50th season at Holy Cross
9/28/2026 2:05:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
The Black Bears and Crusaders will meet on Friday and Saturday in Worcester.
ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine men's ice hockey team will embark on its 50th varsity season this weekend with a two-game series at Holy Cross. The Black Bears and Crusaders will faceoff at the Hart Center Rink on campus on Friday night before moving to the DCU Center on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on both nights.
The games will stream exclusively on FloHockey -- with Friday night's game also airing in New England on NESN+ -- and can also be listened to via 92.9 FM in eastern Maine, 100.5 FM in southern Maine, 1310 AM or online at GoBlackBears.com/MIHRadio.
GAME 1 | RV Maine at Holy Cross
Friday, Oct. 2, 2026 | 7:00 P.M.
Hart Center Rink | Worcester, Mass. | FloHockey
GAME 2 | RV Maine at Holy Cross
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026 | 7:00 P.M.
DCU Center | Worcester, Mass. | FloHockey
WHAT'S ON TAP
• The University of Maine men's ice hockey program will embark on its 50th season of varsity play on Friday night when it travels to Massachusetts to face Holy Cross.
• The two teams will meet on the Holy Cross campus on Friday night at the Hart Center Rink before dropping the puck at the DCU Center on Saturday night.
• Head coach Ben Barr enters his sixth season behind the bench of the Black Bears.
• Maine is coming off of a 2025-26 season in which it went 18-14-3 overall and 12-11-1 in Hockey East games.
A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD. . .
• Bump the Black Bears to 5-1-0 in season-openers under head coach Ben Barr and 29-18-3 as a program in the first game of the season.
• Move Maine to 7-2-0 in the all-time series with Holy Cross.
• Give the Black Bears a fifth consecutive 1-0 start.
ABOUT HOLY CROSS
• The Crusaders went 18-18-2 overall during the 2025-26 season and 14-10-2 in Atlantic Hockey play.
• Matt Kursonis is the returning leading scorer for Holy Cross after putting up 21 points on six goals and 15 helpers a season ago … Noah Eyre is also back after recording 20 points off of eight goals and 12 points.
• Between the pipes Danick Leroux is back after starting 22 games in 2025-26 … he went 12-9-1 with a .908 save percentage, 2.58 goals against average and two shutouts.
• The Crusaders were picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Hockey America Preseason Poll.
SERIES HISTORY vs HOLY CROSS
• Maine and Holy Cross have met eight previous times, with the Black Bears going 6-2-0 overall … five of the meetings have been in Orono (with the Black Bears going 5-0-0 in those games).
• These two teams met twice in Orono last season, with Maine picking up 5-2 and 6-0 wins on the first weekend of the season.
• Six current Black Bears have at least one career point against the Crusaders, including Max Scott (1-4-5) and Jaden Lipinski (2-2-4).
• The first-ever meeting came back on Dec. 3, 1977 with Holy Cross earning an 8-3 win in Orono.
IT'S WORTH NOTING. . .
• This marks the first time Maine is opening up a season on the road since the 2022-23 season ... the Black Bears beat Air Force in Colorado, 4-1 on Oct. 7, 2022.
• With an 18-14-3 overall mark in 2025-26, the Black Bears recorded four consecutive 15-win seasons for the first time since the 2003-04 to 2006-07 seasons.
• With five career short-handed goals, Owen Fowler is the active Hockey East leader in that category.
• Maine led Hockey East in 2025-26 with an average of 66.31 shot attempts per game.
• Albin Boija leads all active goaltenders in NCAA DI men's hockey in both shutouts (10) and career wins (43).
• Maine's 3.3 goals per game average led Hockey East a season ago.
• Max Scott led Hockey East last season with an average of 10.90 face-off wins per game ... his 1,073 career face-off wins is third among all active players while his 54.8 career winning percentage at the dot is the third best mark among players with at least 750 wins.
THE CAPTAINS
• Owen Fowler will serve as the captain for the 2026-27 season while Sully Scholle and Max Scott will serve as alternate captains.
• Fowler, a graduate student, enters his third season at Maine .... this marks his first time wearing a letter for the Black Bears.... he is coming off a 2025-26 campaign in which he was named Hockey East Best Defensive Forward while also setting career highs in goals (12) and points (22) ... he also established career bests in shots on goal (89), plus-minus (+18), power-play goals (2), game-winning goals (3) and faceoff wins (94).
• Scholle enters his fourth season at Maine ... the forward played in all 35 games for the Black Bears in 2025-26, recording career highs in points (18), goals (7) and assists (11) as well as in shots on goal (78), plus-minus (+13) and blocked shots (20) ... Maine went 11-0-0 when he recorded at least one point.
• Scott, a senior forward, will serve as an alternate captain in his second season with the Black Bears ... in 29 games during the 2025-26 season he recorded 18 points on five goals and 13 assists, tying for second on the team in assists and posted a career-best 56.6 face-off winning percentage ... Scott spent two seasons at Brown where he served as captain during the 2024-25 season.
UP NEXT
• Maine will return to Alfond Arena next weekend to host Quinnipiac in the 2026 home opener.
• The Black Bears and Bobcats will faceoff at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10.
-UMaine-
The games will stream exclusively on FloHockey -- with Friday night's game also airing in New England on NESN+ -- and can also be listened to via 92.9 FM in eastern Maine, 100.5 FM in southern Maine, 1310 AM or online at GoBlackBears.com/MIHRadio.
GAME 1 | RV Maine at Holy Cross
Friday, Oct. 2, 2026 | 7:00 P.M.
Hart Center Rink | Worcester, Mass. | FloHockey
GAME 2 | RV Maine at Holy Cross
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026 | 7:00 P.M.
DCU Center | Worcester, Mass. | FloHockey
WHAT'S ON TAP
• The University of Maine men's ice hockey program will embark on its 50th season of varsity play on Friday night when it travels to Massachusetts to face Holy Cross.
• The two teams will meet on the Holy Cross campus on Friday night at the Hart Center Rink before dropping the puck at the DCU Center on Saturday night.
• Head coach Ben Barr enters his sixth season behind the bench of the Black Bears.
• Maine is coming off of a 2025-26 season in which it went 18-14-3 overall and 12-11-1 in Hockey East games.
A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD. . .
• Bump the Black Bears to 5-1-0 in season-openers under head coach Ben Barr and 29-18-3 as a program in the first game of the season.
• Move Maine to 7-2-0 in the all-time series with Holy Cross.
• Give the Black Bears a fifth consecutive 1-0 start.
ABOUT HOLY CROSS
• The Crusaders went 18-18-2 overall during the 2025-26 season and 14-10-2 in Atlantic Hockey play.
• Matt Kursonis is the returning leading scorer for Holy Cross after putting up 21 points on six goals and 15 helpers a season ago … Noah Eyre is also back after recording 20 points off of eight goals and 12 points.
• Between the pipes Danick Leroux is back after starting 22 games in 2025-26 … he went 12-9-1 with a .908 save percentage, 2.58 goals against average and two shutouts.
• The Crusaders were picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Hockey America Preseason Poll.
SERIES HISTORY vs HOLY CROSS
• Maine and Holy Cross have met eight previous times, with the Black Bears going 6-2-0 overall … five of the meetings have been in Orono (with the Black Bears going 5-0-0 in those games).
• These two teams met twice in Orono last season, with Maine picking up 5-2 and 6-0 wins on the first weekend of the season.
• Six current Black Bears have at least one career point against the Crusaders, including Max Scott (1-4-5) and Jaden Lipinski (2-2-4).
• The first-ever meeting came back on Dec. 3, 1977 with Holy Cross earning an 8-3 win in Orono.
IT'S WORTH NOTING. . .
• This marks the first time Maine is opening up a season on the road since the 2022-23 season ... the Black Bears beat Air Force in Colorado, 4-1 on Oct. 7, 2022.
• With an 18-14-3 overall mark in 2025-26, the Black Bears recorded four consecutive 15-win seasons for the first time since the 2003-04 to 2006-07 seasons.
• With five career short-handed goals, Owen Fowler is the active Hockey East leader in that category.
• Maine led Hockey East in 2025-26 with an average of 66.31 shot attempts per game.
• Albin Boija leads all active goaltenders in NCAA DI men's hockey in both shutouts (10) and career wins (43).
• Maine's 3.3 goals per game average led Hockey East a season ago.
• Max Scott led Hockey East last season with an average of 10.90 face-off wins per game ... his 1,073 career face-off wins is third among all active players while his 54.8 career winning percentage at the dot is the third best mark among players with at least 750 wins.
THE CAPTAINS
• Owen Fowler will serve as the captain for the 2026-27 season while Sully Scholle and Max Scott will serve as alternate captains.
• Fowler, a graduate student, enters his third season at Maine .... this marks his first time wearing a letter for the Black Bears.... he is coming off a 2025-26 campaign in which he was named Hockey East Best Defensive Forward while also setting career highs in goals (12) and points (22) ... he also established career bests in shots on goal (89), plus-minus (+18), power-play goals (2), game-winning goals (3) and faceoff wins (94).
• Scholle enters his fourth season at Maine ... the forward played in all 35 games for the Black Bears in 2025-26, recording career highs in points (18), goals (7) and assists (11) as well as in shots on goal (78), plus-minus (+13) and blocked shots (20) ... Maine went 11-0-0 when he recorded at least one point.
• Scott, a senior forward, will serve as an alternate captain in his second season with the Black Bears ... in 29 games during the 2025-26 season he recorded 18 points on five goals and 13 assists, tying for second on the team in assists and posted a career-best 56.6 face-off winning percentage ... Scott spent two seasons at Brown where he served as captain during the 2024-25 season.
UP NEXT
• Maine will return to Alfond Arena next weekend to host Quinnipiac in the 2026 home opener.
• The Black Bears and Bobcats will faceoff at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10.
-UMaine-
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Ice Hockey
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