ORONO — Cedric Lacroix put in a rebound for the tie-breaking goal with 3:31 remaining, lifting Maine to a 4-1 win over New Hampshire in the opener of their Hockey East first-round playoff series Friday night at Alfond Arena.

Lacroix’s fifth goal of the season spoiled an outstanding game by New Hampshire goalie Danny Tirone, who finished with 45 saves.

Tim Doherty and Lacroix each added an empty-net goal in the final two minutes.

The sixth-seeded Black Bears (17-14-4) will try to wrap up the best-of-three series on Saturday night. Game 3, if necessary, would be Sunday.

UNH (10-19-6), the No. 11 seed, grabbed a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Liam Blackburn at 16:01 of the first period.

Brendan Robbins tied it 3:13 into the second period.

Jeremy Swayman made 26 saves for the Black Bears.

BASEBALL

MAINE 6, MIAMI 1: The Black Bears (3-6) took the lead with four runs in the top of the eighth, paced by a two-run single from Jonathan Bennett, as they downed the 24th-ranked Hurricanes (3-6) in Coral Gables, Florida.

Maine starter Justin Courtney had a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings and left after striking out eight in six innings. He walked three and allowed a home run to Romy Gonzalez.

SOFTBALL

MAINE LOSES TWICE: Oklahoma State (11-6) scored seven runs in the first inning and rolled to a 19-1 win over the Black Bears (3-4) in five innings at Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Alyssa Derrick homered for Maine, which fell to St. Francis 4-1 earlier in the day.