BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Freshman Ryan Boucher (Lewiston, Maine) scored his first collegiate goal midway through the third period to give the University of Southern Maine a 2-1, come-from-behind victory over the University of New England in a penalty-filled Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Men's East game Tuesday night at the Biddeford Ice Arena.
The game was the first between the two schools in 30 years. USM and UNE last met in January 1979 before USM dropped ice hockey after the 1978-79 season. UNE later dropped men's ice hockey in the early 1980's before reviving its program at the club level in 2007 and moving to varsity this year and joining the ECAC Men's East league.
The win snapped a five-game winless streak (0-4-1) for the Huskies who improve to 2-4-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the league. The Nor'easters drop to 0-8-0 and 0-5-0 in the league.
After two scoreless periods, UNE tallied the first goal of the renewed rivalry at 2:19 of the third period. Freshman Brendan Brickley (Everett, Mass.) scored a power-play goal assisted by freshman Russ Franey (York, Maine) and sophomore Tim Margiotta (Randolph, N.J.).
Southern Maine equalized less than three minutes later as junior defenseman Paul Conter (Woodbridge, Ontario) put the puck behind UNE rookie goaltender Dallas Ungurian (Edmonton, Alberta) for a power-play goal. Sophomore Dan Rautenberg (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and junior Jon Rutt (Scarborough, Maine) drew the assists.
Boucher gave the Huskies their first lead at 8:17 scoring his first goal with a wrist shot while the Huskies enjoyed the power play. Freshman David Nies (Windham, N.H.) and sophomore Dustin Rider (Farmington, Conn.) collected the assists.
USM sophomore goalie Koray Celik (Ile-bizard, Quebec) finished with 36 saves, including a point-blank stop in the final seconds. Ungurian stopped 44 of 46 shots.
The two teams combined for 109 minutes in penalties. USM was whistled for 19 penalties totaling 55 minutes while UNE picked up 18 penalties for 54 minutes.
Southern Maine closes out the first semester portion of its scheduled Thursday night (7:00 p.m.) when it hosts Salem State College for in a non-conference game. UNE is off until January 2 when it travels to Plymouth State University.
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