ORONO — The University of Maine men’s hockey team’s best season in more than a decade reached another high point Friday night, as the Black Bears clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Hockey East tournament with a 2-1 win over UMass at Alfond Arena.

Maine (21-10-2, 13-9-1 Hockey East), ranked ninth in the nation, will host a quarterfinal next Saturday night against an opponent to be determined. With one regular-season game remaining, the Black Bears are assured of their best finish in Hockey East since 2009-10, when they tied for third place.

UMass (19-11-3, 12-9-2), ranked 12th, is battling with Providence for the No. 4 seed.

Thomas Freel’s power-play goal at 15:43 of the third period gave the Black Bears a 2-1 lead. Freel tipped Sully Scholle’s shot from the point past UMass goalie Michael Hrabal.

UMass took a 1-0 lead at 2:54 of the first period when Michael Cameron’s shot deflected off the pads of Albin Boija and into the net.

Maine tied the game on a Bradly Nadeau goal at 15:50 of the first. Nadeau led a 3-on-1 rush into the UMass zone and passed the puck to his brother, Josh, who was trailing the play down the middle. Josh Nadeau fed the puck back to Bradly, who fired a one-timer past Hrabal. The goal came approximately 30 seconds after Bradly Nadeau rang the post with a shot.

Boija made 26 saves, including two in the final minute as the Minutemen had an extra attacker on the ice.

Maine and UMass will close out the regular season Saturday night at Alfond Arena.

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