GORHAM, Maine -- Senior Chris Travis (Scituate, Mass.) scored two goals and added an assist to help the University of Southern Maine defeat the University of Massachusetts Boston, 7-4, in an ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Men's East game Friday evening at the USM Ice Arena.
The win extends the Huskies' unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1), and improves their record to 8-6-2 overall and 5-3-2 in league play. The Beacons slip to 7-7-1 overall 3-6-1 in the league.
Travis gave the Huskies the lead for good in the high-scoring affair when he potted his second goal of the night, on the power play, at 3:38 of the second period.
Junior Paul Conter (Woodbridge, Ontario) had four assists for the Huskies who got goals from five other players. Junior Zach Joy (Dover, N.H.) scored his team-leading 18th goal of the season in the first period and added an assist on the Huskies' final goal. Junior Jon Rutt (Scarborough, Maine) also earned a goal and an assist.
Freshman Chris Wilcox (Hollywood, Fla.) led the Beacons attack with a pair of goals. Juniors Matt Atsoff (Macomb, Mich.) and Gentry Zollars (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had the other Beacon goals, and junior Eric Tufman (Abington, Pa.) earned two assists.
Atsoff gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 4:34 of the first period before Joy, Travis and freshman David Nies (Brookline, Mass.) countered for the Huskies.
Wilcox and Zollars scored 70 seconds apart early in the second period to tie the game at 3-3. Zollars goal came while the Beacons were short handed. Travis and freshman Dustin Rider (Farmington, Conn.) restored the Huskies' two-goal advantage scoring 10 seconds apart. Rutt added an unassisted goal at 12:42 to make it 6-3 after two periods.
Sophomore goalie Mason St. Hilaire (Saco, Maine) recorded 24 saves to pick up his fifth win of the season. Senior Ryan Donovan (Rexford, N.Y.) had 10 saves before being lifted in the second period for sophomore Kevin Bendel (Denville, N.J.) who registered 18 saves.
Southern Maine is back in action Saturday afternoon (4:00 p.m.) when it hosts Babson College. UMass Boston will take on the University of New England on Saturday (3:00 p.m.).
-ble-
