ORONO – There were no outbursts of heroic proportions, no theatrics and no record-setting performances.

Saturday night at Alfond Arena, the University of Maine men’s hockey team simply got outworked in a 4-2 loss to UMass-Lowell.

A night after Maine left wing Brian Flynn set a school record with seven points in a game (five goals, two assists), the Black Bears couldn’t carry over the offensive momentum.

”I think we got what we deserved,” said Maine right wing Gustav Nyquist, who had two assists. ”They outworked us. They played great and kept it simple.

”We didn’t work as hard as we did (Friday) night. They got second guys on the loose pucks, they won every one-on-one battle and, yeah, we got what we deserved tonight.”

UMass-Lowell goalie Carter Hutton made 24 saves against Maine (15-12-3, 12-9-2 Hockey East), ranked No. 15 in two national polls, and Kory Falite’s two third-period goals helped the River Hawks salvage a win in the final game between the teams.

”To their credit, they came out hard,” said Maine defenseman Jeff Dimmen, who scored Maine’s first goal. ”They outworked us all over the ice.”

The key for UMass-Lowell, Falite said, was hard work, tactical defense and solid goaltending.

”We played better defensively,” Falite said. ”We cleared the front of the net, we weren’t letting guys get second and third whacks at it, and I think that jump-started us.”

Hutton rebounded from giving up five goals on Friday, helping preserve the River Hawks’ two-goal lead early in the third period when he made stops on Robby Dee and Brian Flynn.

”I couldn’t find a rhythm (Friday) night,” said Hutton, who relieved Nevin Hamilton in the 8-4 loss. ”(Saturday), it wasn’t too hard. They kept a lot of pucks to the outside and it helped me get my focus and get my confidence right back.”

Referring to Friday, he said: ”A loss is a loss. We take it as it is. It’s a fresh night, it’s a clean slate and we came out to get a split and we got it, and we’re happy to take these two points and hit the road.”

UMass-Lowell (16-14-2, 10-11-2) took four of the seven penalties called in the first period, and Dimmen gave Maine a 1-0 lead at 12:13 on a power-play goal, a slap shot from the point that broke Dimmen’s stick, deflected off a defender and past Hutton.

Less than three minutes later, Colin Wright tied the game on a power-play goal.

With 19.6 seconds left in the second, less than 20 seconds after the Black Bears killed off a high-sticking penalty to Will O’Neill, Riley Wetmore gave the River Hawks a 2-1 lead on a shot from the slot.

Falite made it 3-1 lead less than two minutes into the third before Flynn scored his sixth goal of the weekend to cut Maine’s deficit to 3-2 with 11:19 left.

Falite scored his second goal of the period at 13:33 of the third, beating Maine goalie Scott Darling (27 saves) through a screen from the slot.

”It was certainly a back breaker,” Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said of Falite’s second goal. ”We’d just made it 3-2 and we carried the play there, then he came down and beat a guy one-on-one out of the corner and wristed it through traffic.

”It was a great one. He was a big factor.”

 

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:

rlenzi@pressherald.com