ORONO — Six of one. Half a dozen of the other.

Either way, it adds up to two dismal streaks for the Maine men’s hockey team.

The Black Bears dropped their sixth straight game Friday, falling 6-3 to Vermont before an announced crowd of 3,707. It was the most goals the Black Bears have allowed this season. And it was also the sixth consecutive loss Maine has suffered at the hands of the Catamounts.

This one unraveled quickly after the Black Bears took a 3-2 lead on senior forward Connor Leen’s sharp-angle goal at 5:38 of the second period. Maine’s defensemen got entangled in a neutral-zone scrum shortly thereafter and Vermont’s Mario Puskarich took advantage to tie the score. Maine had no answer, falling to 3-10-1.

No. 13 Vermont (10-3-1) outscored Maine 4-1 in the second period, after which Black Bear goaltender Matt Morris was lifted for Sean Romeo.

“One mistake can burn you and that happened to us four times that period,” said Leen.

“After that fourth one, I think we died a little bit. … For whatever reason, we get down on ourselves and get down on each other, and you can’t win games like that. It’s got to be a mentality of, who cares? Goals are going to happen and we just have to get it back the next shift like you saw Vermont do.”

Maine took a 2-1 lead after one period thanks to two determined plays by sophomore Brian Morgan, who netted his second and third goals of the season.

But second periods have been Maine’s undoing all season. Opponents have outscored the Black Bears 23-8 in middle frames. Coach Red Gendron said lineup changes are forthcoming.

“We generally play pretty well in the first period and as soon as the other team pushes back a little bit, we don’t stand up to it. That’s the truth,” Gendron said.

“We have to learn to play smart as well as play hard. People who don’t play hard can’t play for us. They can’t be part of this program. … There were a few of those. You won’t see them (Saturday) night. You may never see them again.”

Vermont had defeated Massachusetts 11-1 in its last outing. The Catamounts continued that onslaught against Maine, with a 7 p.m. rematch slated for Saturday. The weekend series does not count in Hockey East.

“We’re getting scoring from different guys in different ways,” Vermont Coach Kevin Sneddon said. “I think the guys have some confidence right now around the net. It happens to be going in right now. We know it goes in cycles.”

The Catamounts got two goals from Puskarich. Kevin Irwin had a goal and three assists.

The Black Bears wasted a strong effort by Morgan. His first goal came as he fired a wrist shot while sprawling headfirst to the ice against two defenders. His second came when he didn’t give up after an initial shot was blocked from the left side of the net. He skated to the other side and found a loose puck that he slid past goalie Brody Hoffman.

The momentum didn’t last.

“He knows he has to play that way to be successful,” Gendron said of Morgan.

“I couldn’t have been happier for him to be able to have that kind of game. It’s too bad that other parts of our game eroded the way they did so that we have a hard time celebrating that kind of effort for him.”

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